Allens advises on Villa World's acquisition by AVID

Allens has advised Villa World Limited (Villa World) in relation to the scheme of arrangement (Scheme) under which AVID Property Group Australia Pty Limited (AVID) will acquire 100% of the shares in Villa World for an enterprise value of $409 million.

Shareholders will receive total cash consideration of $2.345 per share under the approved Scheme, which represents a 5.2% increase from AVID's initial proposal of $2.23 per share in March 2019 and a 25.1% premium to the three-month VWAP of Villa World shares up to the date of the initial proposal.

Implementation of the Scheme is scheduled to occur on 30 October 2019, the same day that Villa World Bonds will be redeemed in full.

The approval of the Scheme followed months of negotiations, said lead Partner Julian Donnan.

'Following an extensive negotiation process, we were delighted to help Villa World secure a positive result for its shareholders, increasing AVID's initial offer to $2.345 per share,' said Mr Donnan.

'The Scheme also assisted in clarifying the courts' approach to interested target directors joining in recommending a scheme to target shareholders, moving away from recent Federal Court decisions that had tended to cast doubt on that proposition,' he said.

Villa World shareholders approved the Scheme on 11 October 2019 and the Supreme Court of New South Wales approved it on 15 October.

Allens legal advisory role follows its work with Villa World in 2017 on a simple corporate bond issue, and underwritten placement and share purchase plan offer.

Allens legal team

Corporate

Julian Donnan (Partner), Stuart McCulloch (Partner), Chelsey Drake (Partner), Keegan Lopez (Senior Associate), Lisa Gao (Associate), Miles Ma (Associate) and Andrew Mon (Lawyer).

Disputes & Investigations

Kim Reid (Partner), Guy Stuckey-Clarke (Associate) and Sevanne McGarity (Lawyer).

Finance

Karla Fraser (Partner) and James Darcy (Partner).

Tax

Joseph Power (Partner) and Jay Prasad (Senior Associate).

Ends