Freehills is advising Woodside Petroleum Ltd on its announced $2.5 billion capital raising.
The raising will be via a 1-for-12 accelerated pro-rata renounceable entitlement offer at $42.10 per share, for institutional and retail investors.
Woodside is Australia's largest independent oil & gas producer, with high quality assets and projects throughout Australia.
The Freehills team was led by partners Philippa Stone and David Gray, and supported by lawyers Jeremy Wickens, Sevan Gore and Sally Choi.
Freehills partner Philippa Stone said, ‘What differentiates the Woodside offer from many recent capital raisings is that it is being undertaken in preparation for further LNG development. We hope to see more raisings in the coming year by strong companies positioning themselves for growth.’
Freehills partner David Gray said, ‘The size of this offer is testament to the quality of Woodside’s asset base and market confidence in its growth plans. It points to exciting times ahead, as development of Australia’s hydrocarbon reserves accelerates. The Freehills team is well placed to continue to support our clients’ participation in these areas.’
Freehills’ award-winning teams have advised issuers or underwriters on many of Australia’s most significant recent transactions including acting for Prime Infrastructure on its complex $1.8 billion recapitalisation involving cornerstone investment by Brookfield Asset Management, reconstruction of Prime’s capital structure and various asset transactions (FinanceAsia’s Innovative Deal of the Year), for Warburg Pincus on its cornerstone investment in Transpacific Industries’ A$800 million capital raising, for Elders Limited on its refinancing, asset sales and other transactions valued at close to A$1 billion and for the underwriters of the $15.2 billion Rio Tinto rights issue, one of the largest rights issues ever.
Mallesons Stephen Jaques, led by partners David Friedlander and David Eliakim, are acting for the joint lead managers and underwriters to the deal, Citigroup Global Markets Australia Pty Ltd, Credit Suisse (Australia) Limited and UBS AG, Australia Branch.
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