Simpson Grierson acts on six-way merger

Simpson Grierson was involved in a six-way merger that creates an Australasian security services group.

The firm advised on the recent roll-up by Optic Security Group of New Zealand companies Fortlock, Comsmart, Circuit Systems and SSL, as well as Australian companies Security & Technology Services and Bemac, to create an integrated security products and services provider with revenues exceeding $100m.

Partners Andrew Harkness and Michael Pollard, senior associate Tom Heard and senior solicitor Ed Fear provided commercial and debt-financing advice to New York-based Arena Investors, which acted as funder and equity participant in the deal.

Jason Cherrington, who leads the combined company, said that the merger enables the group to meet the needs of customers as increasingly connected physical and digital security requirements become more complex.

“These threats are now exposing directors to a complex liability that, if not mitigated successfully, lead to significant financial, criminal and brand-damaging outcomes that boards have to be fully aware of, and then protected against. That’s our purpose,” Cherrington said. “We also had a particularly clear vision to create a trans-Tasman capability that has full geographic coverage across both markets and depth in technical and industry expertise to tackle these emerging challenges and deliver appropriate solutions to our customers – now achievable with a scale presence in both New Zealand and Australia.”