Allens advises Bendigo and Adelaide Bank on $300M offer of Converting Preference Shares 4

Allens has advised Bendigo and Adelaide Bank on its $300 million offer of Converting Preference Shares 4 (CPS4), a hybrid security that will qualify as additional Tier 1 Capital for the Bank.

The offer will run in conjunction with the redemption of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank's Convertible Preference Shares (CPS).

The CPS4 offer includes an Institutional Offer, a Broker Firm Offer, a Reinvestment Offer for the CPS shareholders and a Securityholder Offer.

The transaction will support the Bank's balance sheet growth and will ensure the Bank continues to maintain a strong regulatory capital base. The completion of the bookbuild indicated a strong level of demand for the offer.

Allens provided both legal and taxation advice on the matter, as it did for the Bank's previous issues of Convertible Preference Shares 2 in 2014 and Convertible Preference Shares 3 in 2015, and the firm's role included assisting the Bank to obtain all necessary approvals from APRA, the ASX and the ATO.

The multidisciplinary team from Allens was led by partners Robert Pick and Julian Donnan, Co-Heads of the firm's capital markets team, together with tax partner Martin Fry.

'We are delighted to have partnered with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank once again to support the Bank's capital management initiatives,' Robert said.

'The transaction continues the longstanding partnership between Allens and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, and we have very much enjoyed working closely with the Bank's senior management team on this important transaction.'

'The strong support for CPS4 under the Bookbuild from existing CPS holders and new investors is a great outcome for the Bank,' Julian said.

The offer opened on Tuesday, 24 October 2017 and CPS4 are expected to commence trading on ASX on Thursday, 14 December 2017.

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