The $685m IPO was the biggest one of its kind in the APAC region in 10 years
Sidley has confirmed its role as the US counsel to Virgin Australia in relation to its re-listing on the ASX.
The $685m IPO of ordinary shares is the first major IPO in the country for the year and the biggest by an airline in the APAC region in 10 years. The offering was underwritten by Barrenjoey Markets Pty Limited, Goldman Sachs Australia Pty Limited and UBS Securities Australia Limited, who were the joint lead managers on the re-listing.
On the first day of the listing, the share price closed at 11.4% above the offer issue price, according to Sidley.
Mimma Barila headed up Sidley’s deal team, which included Kristina Kang, Kim Robertson, and Andy Loo. Nicholas Brown and Alvin Wang pitched in on tax matters, while Carla Teodoro tackled Investment Company Act matters.
Meanwhile, a team from Allens advised Goldman Sachs, UBS and Barrenjoey.
“To see a private equity sponsored IPO of this size and scale, and a household name like Virgin to return to the ASX, is a fantastic outcome and a strong indicator that the public markets path to an exit remains a strong and viable option”, said Allens capital markets co-head Julian Donnan.
Donnan worked alongside partner Rob Pick, who spearheaded the team on the transaction, as well as senior associate Michael Burrell, associate Tim Walsh and law graduate Jack Shanahan.
Per Gilbert + Tobin (G+T), which advised Virgin Australia, the implied market capitalisation is about $2.3bn based on the IPO price. The firm said that Virgin Australia’s re-listing is the first major private equity sponsored company to come to market since 2021.
“This IPO is a milestone for Virgin Australia and arguably one of the most important to emerge in the Australian market in recent years. Bringing a deal of this scale to market during a period of global economic and geopolitical uncertainty speaks volumes to the strength of the business and the depth of support behind it”, said G+T co-lead partner Adam D’Andreti.
D’Andreti led G+T’s team alongside partner Peter Cook in collaborating with Virgin Australia and Bain Capital, their financial advisers Reunion Capital, the underwriters and other advisers. D'Andreti and Cook were assisted by Sean Meehan, Kevin Zhou, Lucy Hall, Hayden Rayen, Catherine Wei, Meng-Yeow Lim, Maree Casey, Kevin Olsen, Ben Bylykbashi, Muli Zhou and Laura Worrad, as well as by partners Alastair Corrigall and Louise Klamka.
The G+T team also advised Virgin Australia and Bain Capital on the divestment of a quarter of the Virgin Australia airline to Qatar Airways Group, as well as on the re-establishment of long-haul flying under a new wet lease inked with Qatar Airways.
