Independent law firm Johnson Winter Slattery has advised Potentia Capital (Potentia) on its successful contested $530m takeover bid for Nitro Software Limited (Nitro), an ASX listed company specialising in PDF, eSign and document productivity software.
Before bidding for Nitro, Potentia obtained a pre-bid stake in the target using a combination of share acquisitions and cash settled equity derivatives. The contest between Potentia’s takeover bid and Alludo’s dual scheme and bid structure involved several applications to the Takeovers Panel, with Potentia successfully winning the asset and securing unanimous support from the Nitro Board.
The JWS team was led by James Rozsa, Byron Koster and Damian Reichel.
Byron Koster commented “We are delighted to have worked on this contested transaction and to have achieved a successful outcome for Potentia. Many market participants had concluded that Potentia would not succeed against Alludo but Potentia patiently and persistently pursued its bid to a successful outcome.”
The JWS corporate M&A team is at the forefront of Australian public and tech M&A. JWS has advised on over 45 tech transactions in the last 18 months including Potentia’s bids for Nitro and Tyro and the Humanforce bid for intelliHR.
Potentia is an Australian, specialist private equity investor focussed on technology and tech-enabled businesses.
About Johnson Winter Slattery
Johnson Winter Slattery is an independent Australian law firm with over 80 partners and 6 offices across Australia. We advise major corporates, funds and governments on their most challenging transactions and disputes.