Allens advises Brambles on sale of IFCO reusable plastic containers business for US$2.51b

Allens has advised Brambles (ASX: BXB) on the sale of its IFCO reusable plastic containers business for an enterprise value of US$2.51 billion (AUD$3.52 billion).

The sale to a consortium of Triton and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority follows a dual track separation process which consisted of running a competitive trade sale, while in parallel, preparing the IFCO business for a demerger by way of scheme of arrangement with subsequent listing on the LSE and ASX.

Allens advised Brambles on all aspects of the IFCO separation dual track process, with support from Linklaters.

The sale will result in up to US$1.95 billion of the proceeds being returned to Brambles' shareholders. This will be made up of a pro-rata return of cash of approx. US$300 million and on-market share buyback of up to US$1.65 billion.

'This transaction is another example of private equity participation in the M&A market and reflects what we are seeing more broadly on recent large-scale transactions," said lead Partner, Vijay Cugati.

'It was a pleasure to collaborate with our partners at Linklaters to advise on this cross-border and multi-jurisdictional transaction, which will assist Brambles in executing its business strategy.'

The transaction builds upon a list of significant recent matters for Allens' Mergers & Acquisition practice, which includes:

• The $3.4 billion sale of Investa Office Fund to Oxford Properties (and on the response to prior competing proposals from Oxford Properties and Blackstone Real Estate);
• The sale by the New South Wales Government of a 51% stake in the WestConnex project; and
• The $32.7 billion acquisition by Unibail-Rodamco of the Westfield Group.

Allens legal team

Corporate

Vijay Cugati, Partner; Kate Towey, Partner; Dannie Hanna, Senior Overseas Practitioner; Addison Ma, Senior Associate; Lauren Chamberlain, Overseas Practitioner; Lisa Gao, Associate, Elise Blume, Lawyer, Georgie Leahy, Lawyer.

Banking & Finance

Jo Folan, Partner.

Competition

Carolyn Oddie, Partner; Felicity McMahon, Managing Associate.

Ends