Inspect Real Estate

Divestiture, Confidential, 2023

Ad Astra advised Inspect Real Estate on its sale to Reapit, a portfolio company of Accel-KKR (sale price confidential). 

Inspect Real Estate is a property management software business that manages booking inspections, tenancy applications, key tracking and other applications.

Before You Bid

Private Capital Raising, 2023

Ad Astra advised Before You Bid in relation to a private capital raising.

Before You Bid is a platform that connects sellers, buyers and building inspectors to optimise pre-sale due diligence in the property transaction.

Wagering & Betting Licensing Project

Government Advisory, 2020-23

Ad Astra is acting as commercial adviser to the Victorian Government’s Gambling Licensing Program in relation the Wagering & Betting Licensing Project. 

Investec

Divestitures, Various, 2022-23

Ad Astra advised Investec Australia on the sale of its remaining property loan portfolio. This resulted in the sale of the underlying property assets to various buyers.

The underlying property portfolio comprised commercial, residential and mixed-use development sites across Queensland and NSW.

Archistar

Private Capital Raising, 2023

Ad Astra advised Archistar in relation to a private capital raising.

Archistar is a software solution that combines architectural design with artificial intelligence to inform decision-making in property development.

Venue Digital Technology

Private M&A, $62m, 2023

Ad Astra advised Venue Digital Technology on its acquisition of eBET, a subsidiary of Tabcorp Holdings, for $62 million.

eBET is a leading gaming technology solutions business that offers hotel and clubs customers a core gaming system and a range of system enhancements to improve venue efficiency and performance.

Kubio

Private Capital Raising, 2023

Ad Astra advised Kubio in relation to a private capital raising. 

Kubio is a leading provider of digital loan origination and e-lodgement technology for commercial and asset finance businesses, with solutions designed to improve the customer and broker experience.

VicRoads Modernisation

Government M&A, $7.9bn, 2022

Ad Astra advised a consortium comprising Macquarie Asset Management, Aware Super and Australian Retirement Trust on its joint venture with the Victorian Government for the delivery of VicRoads’ registration and licensing services. The joint venture will be responsible for modernising and maintaining the VicRoads’ motor vehicle registry and driver licensing register for 40 years, generating $7.9 billion of upfront proceeds to the State.

Realty Assist Australia

Private Capital Raising, $17.5m, 2022

Ad Astra advised Realty Assist Australia in relation to a $17.5 million private capital raising.

Realty Assist is a fast growing real estate payments business, providing lending products at every stage of the property sales and leasing cycle. 

Realbase

Private M&A, up to $230m, 2022

Ad Astra advised Realbase on its sale to Domain Group for up to $230 million.  Realbase is one of the largest PropTech’s in Australia, and operates the leading real estate campaign marketing platform, offering digital proposals and social & digital marketing products in the Agent-Tech space.

Keno Licensing Project

Government Advisory, 2019-22

Ad Astra acted as commercial adviser to the Victorian Government’s Gambling Licensing Program in relation the Keno Licensing Project.  Following a competitive process, two 20-year keno licences were awarded to Tabcorp and Lottoland.

Healthengine

Private Capital Raising, $30m, 2022

Ad Astra advised Healthengine in relation to its $30m series E funding from Inspire Impact, the impact investing arm of Liverpool Partners, an Australian mid-market private equity firm. 

Healthengine is Australia’s largest consumer healthcare platform that helps people navigate the healthcare system, bringing together a range of healthcare practices, healthcare specialties and health ecosystem partners.

Greencollar

Placement, 2022

Ad Astra advised Greencollar in relation to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board’s (OTPP) investment in the business and becoming a new long-term investor to back Greencollar’s ambitious growth aspirations and commitment to delivering positive environmental impact at scale.

Insight Data Solutions

Private M&A, up to $159m, 2021

Ad Astra advised Insight Data Solutions (IDS) on its sale to Domain Group for up to $159m.  IDS is a market leading statutory valuation workflow and data & analytics platform (managing 28% of the national statutory valuations) and offers a bank-grade Automated Valuation Model product suite.

Greencollar

Private M&A, Various, 2021-22

Ad Astra assisted Greencollar with executing its M&A strategy and leading the consolidation of the environmental markets in Australia.  This led to Greencollar’s successful acquisitions of Devine Agribusiness Carbon, Go Neutral and Sigma Global, as well as its partnership with Agriprove.

OpenMarkets Group

Private Capital Raising, $10m, 2021

Ad Astra advised OpenMarkets Group on its $10m private capital raising from both institutional and high net worth investors to fund its continued growth initiatives, as a leading Australian fintech-infra technology provider.

vBreathe

Private Capital Raising, $12m (two rounds of pre-Series A), 2021

Ad Astra advised VBreathe (a leading Australian healthtech device producer) on two rounds of its pre-Series A private capital raising to facilitate its expansion initiatives in both Australia and Europe.

Rich Data Corporation

Private Capital Raising, $15m, 2021

Ad Astra advised RDC on its $15m private capital raising by introducing leading Melbourne based fund manager BMY Group as its cornerstone investor to enable further contract wins and innovations across its AI-platform.

Investec

Divestiture, $1.2bn, 2021

Ad Astra advised Investec Australia on the sale of its $1.2bn corporate and acquisition finance loan portfolio to Metrics Credit Partners, Balmain Corporation and Bank of America.

The portfolio comprises a mix of Australian leveraged finance, fund finance and Asset-backed loans.

Pacific Equity Partners

Leverage Buyout, $503m, 2020

Ad Astra (formerly Investec) acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Pacific Equity Partners on their acquisition of The Citadel Group, an ASX-listed software and managed services provider.

Across Government Facilities Management Arrangements Reform

Government Advisory, 2020

Ad Astra (formerly Investec) advised the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure of the South Australia Government on commercial terms and market engagement for its Across Government Facilities Management Arrangements Reform program.

GreenCollar

Private M&A, 2020

Ad Astra (formerly Investec) acted as the exclusive financial advisor to KKR on their acquisition of a stake in GreenCollar, the leading environmental markets project developer across the carbon, water quality, bio-diversity and plastics markets in Australia.

The investment represents the first impact investment in Australia from KKR’s newly raised US$1.3 billion KKR Global Impact Fund.

Openpay

IPO, 2019
Placement, 2020

Ad Astra (formerly Investec) acted as the independent financial advisor to Openpay, a rapidly growing provider of buy now, pay later products, on its IPO on the ASX in December 2019 and subsequent capital raising via placement in June 2020.

As independent advisor, Ad Astra assisted Openpay to secure $50m via its IPO (implying a market capitalisation of $150m), as well as an additional $34m via further placement from institutional investors, implying a market capitalisation of over $250m at the placement price.

Xenith IP

Public M&A, $207m, 2019

Ad Astra (formerly Investec) advised Xenith IP’s Board with its acquisition by IPH, which follows a contested process whereby Xenith IP had initially proposed to merge with QANTM prior to receiving a competing offer from IPH.

Following substantial negotiations, the agreed offer from IPH represents a 73% premium for Xenith shareholders relative to the last close prior to the announcement of the initial proposed merger with QANTM.

Ad Astra has been Xenith IP’s advisor since advising on its IPO in November 2015.

Property Exchange Australia

Private M&A, $1.6bn, 2018

Ad Astra (formerly Investec) advised Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MSIP) on their acquisition of a stake in Property Exchange Australia (PEXA), as part of the Link Group and CBA consortium, which acquired 100 percent of PEXA.

Ad Astra leveraged its sector expertise in assisting MSIP understand the e-conveyancing market in Australia and its interactions within the broader eco-system of land registry / data.

Northern Territory Land Titles Office

Strategic Review, 2019

Ad Astra (formerly Investec) advised the Northern Territory Government on a scoping study on potential commercialisation options for its land title office.

Landgate Partial Commercialisation

Strategic Review, 2018
Government Advisory, $1.41bn, 2018-19

Ad Astra (formerly Investec) advised the Western Australian Government on the partial commercialisation of Landgate, Western Australia’s land registry.

Ad Astra structured a bespoke model involving the partial commercialisation of Landgate’s automated land titling functions and search products.

South Australia Motor Vehicle Registry

Strategic Review, 2017
Government Advisory, 2018-2019

Ad Astra (formerly Investec) advised the South Australia Government on a scoping study on commercialisation options for its Motor Vehicle Registry (MVR) and subsequent market engagement with Land Services South Australia.

Ad Astra pioneered MVR as a potential new registry asset class and was the first MVR scoping study undertaken by a government in Australia.

Western Australian TAB

Strategic Review, 2017
Government Advisory, 2017-19

Ad Astra (formerly Investec) advised the Western Australian Government on a scoping study on the potential sale of Western Australian TAB.

Ad Astra advised the State on structuring the sale, the racing industry funding model and the optimal market process to meet both the State’s and racing industry’s objectives.

Steinhoff Asia Pacific

Public M&A, A$361m, 2017

Ad Astra (formerly Investec) advised Steinhoff Asia Pacific (a global furniture and household goods retailer) on its acquisition of Fantastic Holdings (an Australian furniture retailer).

Ad Astra used innovative tactics to maximise transaction certainty for Steinhoff (including voting intention statements, call options).

The Cheesecake Shop

Divestiture, 2017

Ad Astra (formerly Investec) advised the founders on the sale of The Cheesecake Shop (an Australian cake and bakery business).

Ad Astra undertook a global search for potential buyers leading to a successful sale to PAG Capital (an Asian based private equity firm).

South Australia Land Services

Strategic Review, 2016
Government Advisory, A$1.605bn, 2017

Ad Astra (formerly Investec) advised the South Australian Government on the commercialisation of the State’s land registry and valuation services.

Ad Astra structured a unique commercialisation model that delivered the State upfront proceeds of $1.605bn at a record multiple of 35x EBITDA.

Xenith IP Group

Strategic Review, 2015
IPO, A$90m, 2015
Private M&A, A$172m, 2016-17

Ad Astra (formerly Investec) advised on the initial public offering of Xenith IP Group and subsequent acquisitions of Watermark ($20m) and Griffith Hack ($152m).

Transformational combination to create Australia’s leading intellectual property firm.