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Minter Ellison on call for FoneZone
Minter Ellison’s Brisbane corporate team acted for retailer FoneZone on its IPO and listing on the ASX, which occurred on November 2. The float raised $62 million and the company liste
Lawyers Weekly
Minter Ellison’s Brisbane corporate team acted for retailer FoneZone on its IPO and listing on the ASX, which occurred on November 2. The float raised $62 million and the company listed with a market capitalisation of $125.2 million at the offer price.
Tim Reid led Minter Ellison’s team on the transaction, which included special counsel Susan Stewart (who led the Telstra agreement negotiations, One Zero acquisition and IPO due diligence), and senior associate Rupert Copeman-Hill (on the One Zero acquisition). Stewart said the float process had started with a view to listing in March. However, the additional negotiations had increased the time required — negotiations on the dealership agreement, a key document for the float, continued for three or four months.
“The fact that FoneZone wanted to get the new dealership in place and acquire One Zero before it floated, meant we were working on both of those at the same time, which proved to be quite challenging,” Stewart said. Both transactions were signed within a close timeframe, with the view to listing shortly after. “But then the retail sector had a series of profit downgrades, so we held off for a while.”
When it came time to work on the IPO again, “there was still significant work to do, but it was fairly smooth sailing,” she said.
