Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has fielded a cross-border team to handle three matters for a retail property fund.
The firm advised Aventus Retail Property Fund on its $215m entitlement offer, which will initially be used to pay down the company’s existing debt, which will be redrawn to partially fund the acquisition of two large-format retail centres in metropolitan Sydney. The $436m acquisition is the biggest sale in the large-format retail sector so far this year.
The balance of the acquisition will be funded through a $300m increase in Aventus’ debt facility, on which HSF also advised. The firm also advised Aventus on the extension of its entitlement offer to certain investors in the US.
The HSF capital markets team was led by partner Philip Hart, who’s based in Sydney. He was assisted by solicitors Ben Robinson, Michael Burrell, Vivek Mahadevan, and Lucinda Bradshaw. The firm’s US capital markets team was led by partner Siddhartha Sivaramakrishnan, who’s based in Singapore. He was assisted by senior associate Jin Kong. HSF’s banking and finance team was led by partner Emma de Carle, who’s based in Sydney. She was assisted by solicitor Neha Goswami.
Aventus is a long-standing client, with HSF advising on the company’s IPO in 2015 and its capital raising in May 2016.
“Aventus continues to execute its acquisition strategy and this landmark transaction expands its presence in Sydney, a key east coast market for the fund. We look forward to continuing to work with Aventus in the future,” Hart said.
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