Australia: M&A/Private Equity

Where objections are lodged against a proposed compulsory acquisition under Chapter 6A of the Corporations Act, the residual holders can prevent the compulsory acquisition proceeding...

If a shareholder commits to accept a takeover bid ‘in the absence of a superior proposal’, does it have to wait before accepting the bid? And, if so, for how long? The Takeovers Panel recently considered the issues.

In this episode of Deal Talk, partners Kam Jamshidi and Andrew Bradley explore the opportunities for M&A in the Australian financial services sector.

The recent Ausmincon/Afry scheme has reignited debate over naked no vote break fees in Australian M&A transactions. While these fees have been largely absent from public deals for the past decade, the Court's decision reconfirms they are not inherently coercive and need not be minimal. What factors enabled this $1 million break fee—exceeding 1% of equity value—to withstand judicial scrutiny?

Australia's new mandatory merger control regime has completed its first three months of operation, revealing both promising trends and emerging challenges for dealmakers.

The Australian Treasury has released exposure draft legislation that significantly expands capital gains tax obligations for non-residents, introducing new ATO notification requirements for transactions valued at $50M or more and fundamentally shifting due diligence responsibilities from vendors to purchasers. These changes will impact M&A deal processes, compliance timelines, and risk allocation between parties in cross-border transactions involving Australian assets.

In New World Resources Limited 02, the Takeovers Panel expressed concerns regarding a proposed placement of shares by a target company to a bidder.

We have analysed non-binding indicative offers (NBIOs) for public companies during calendar years 2022 to 2024. In particular, we have done a deep dive on private equity NBIOs.

The growth in private credit over the past few years means understanding this sector of the debt markets, and the benefits private credit can provide, is increasingly important for Private Equity sponsors.