Odyssey was appointed by this European headquarted global group to advise on and to manage its prospective acquisition of a leading Australian contracting and related product manufacturing company
The client was introduced to Odyssey through its banking relationships as the right advisory firm to provide M&A advice locally and with the necessary level of experience and relationships to project manage the deal through to completion
Odyssey role
Odyssey acted as lead manager on the project, encompassing
- Initial evaluation of the target business
- Valuation assessment and advice around offer structuring
- Negotiation of heads of agreement
- Appointment of local legal, tax, and due diligence advisers
- Project management of the transaction through due diligence and legal documentation stages
- Commercial support to legal team through contract negotiations
- Ongoing board level support to overseas based client board
Odyssey value-add
This was a complex and difficult deal to complete taking 9 months from initial target contact. Structured as an initial 51% acquisition with a put/call option arrangement to acquire the balance of the equity over a period of time, the deal necessarily involved negotiation of the initial acquisition terms together with a clear shareholders agreement and a well defined mechanism in place covering valuation and other key terms for the potential buy-out of the remaining equity at a future date
The deal required considerable expertise and resources from Odyssey. There were a whole range of issues, not least environmental concerns, ongoing acquisitions by the target that were being completed simultaneously and a number of different interests amongst the vendor shareholder group that required both skill and care to navigate through
Odyssey was commended for the role it played by its client and the other advisers to the transaction and continues to provide advice and support to both client and target
