Allens advises IDP Education on A$331.6 million IPO

Allens has advised IDP Education Limited on its A$331.6 million Initial Public Offer, launched with lodgement of a prospectus on 12 November 2015.

IDP Education – headquartered in Melbourne – is a global leader in international student recruitment, a co-owner of IELTS (a leading English language proficiency test) and an operator of English language schools in South East Asia.

IDP Education is currently owned 50 per cent by 38 Australian universities through Education Australia Limited and 50 per cent by SEEK Limited through its wholly owned subsidiary SEEK Investments Pty Ltd. On completion of the IPO, Education Australia will hold 50 per cent of the shares on issue and SEEK Investments will not hold any shares.

The IPO is expected to raise total proceeds of A$331.6 million based on an offer price of A$2.65 per share, which equates to an enterprise value of A$658.1 million and a market capitalisation on listing of A$663.3 million.

The Allens team on the matter was led by Corporate Partner and Co-Head of the Allens Equity Capital Markets team Robert Pick, and also included Senior Associate Hannah Biggins, Associate Yan-Lin Lee and Lawyers Simone Kaser and Annie Zheng.

'IDP Education is a great Australian success story, developing from its not-for-profit origins in 1969 into today being a leading provider of international student placement services and high-stakes English language testing services,' Robert said.

'We have thoroughly enjoyed working with IDP Education's experienced senior management team, and its existing shareholders Education Australia and SEEK, on this important step in the company's evolution.'

Allens' role on the IPO caps off a strong year for the firm's ECM practice. The firm has acted on several significant IPOs (including Link Administration Holding's $946 million IPO, the largest IPO in in 2015) and on several of the year's most significant secondary ECM transactions (including NAB's A$5.5billion entitlement offer, Westpac's A$3.5 billion entitlement offer and Chevron's A$4.7 billion block trade of a 50 per cent stake in Caltex Australia).

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