Herbert Smith Freehills is pleased to have advised leading Australian transport and logistics provider Toll Group on its acquisition by Japan Post, in one of the largest ever public company acquisitions in Australia.
Toll Holdings Limited (Toll Group) is the Asia Pacific Region’s leading provider of transport and logistics, employing approximately 40,000 people across some 1,200 locations in more than 50 countries.
Combined with Japan Post, it will become one of the world’s top five logistics companies, with an expansive geographical footprint providing expertise in the global logistics and transport markets.
Toll agreed with Japan Post in February to propose a scheme of arrangement under which Japan Post would acquire all the shares in Toll for a cash consideration of A$9.04 per share, which was a 49 per cent premium to Toll’s pre-announcement closing share price. The enterprise value of Toll implied by the price is approximately A$8 billion.
The transaction, which closed today, is Australia’s fifth-largest inbound acquisition ever and the second-largest deal in Australia this year (next only to BHP Billiton’s demerger of South32, on which Herbert Smith Freehills also advised).
Despite the scale of the transaction, it was also one of the smoothest transactions seen in the market for many years and was quickly approved by shareholders and key regulators, such as the Australian Government’s Foreign Investment Review Board.
The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by partners Rodd Levy and Simon Haddy, with assistance from senior associate Zoe Leyland and solicitor Anita Mirchandani.
Mr Levy said: “We are delighted to have acted for Toll on such an important and historic transaction. The scheme of arrangement with Japan Post is one of the largest and most significant transactions in the Asia-Pacific region this year. It is a good example of two industry leaders combining to establish themselves as a top global logistics player.”
Japan Post was advised by Clayton Utz.
Source: www.herbertsmithfreehills.com
