Four firms figure in the $111m deal
Johnson Winter & Slattery (JWS) and Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) acted alongside US giants on Australia’s largest-ever Series B investment.
JWS advised Institutional Venture Management XVI (IVP) and OpenView, which were lead investors on the US$80m ($111m) Series B investment in Deputy, which was counselled by HSF.
The firms have been involved in the past in raisings by Deputy. JWS advised OpenView on its Series A investment in Deputy in 2016. HSF was Deputy’s legal counsel in the $25m raise.
The Australian firms worked in this latest deal with two top US firms. Cooley was US counsel to IVP, while Goodwin Procter was US counsel to OpenView.
The JWS team was led by partner James Rozsa and special counsel Sophia Bobeff. They were assisted by partners Ravi de Fonseka, Luci Mummé, and Reynah Tang; special counsel Evan Mentiplay and Rosemary Tedesco; associates Jack Culbertson, Lyndal Keevers, and Georgina Xiradis; and law graduate Jesse McNaughton.
The HSF team was led by partner Peter Dunne, HSF’s head of venture capital in Australia, and solicitor Myra Beal.
“The momentum that Deputy is generating is amazing. It has been brilliant to work closely with Deputy’s founders, Ashik Ahmed and Steve Shelley, and Deputy’s general counsel, Glenn Boswell, on one of Australia’s largest tech capital raisings,” Dunne said.
“Peter and Myra have been excellent advisors and business partners and we are very grateful for their ongoing support,” Boswell said.
