More advisers have joined the fee bonanza in the mergers and acquisitions boom sweeping Australia.
After announcing a mega merger with BHP’s petroleum unit, it has emerged that Woodside has tapped Morgan Stanley, Gresham and law firm King & Wood Mallesons and Vinson & Elkins for its merger with BHP’s petroleum business.
BHP meanwhile, is working with JPMorgan, Barclays and Goldman Sachs, while its legal adviser is Herbert Smith Freehills.
The companies announced a merger deal on Tuesday where BHP’s oil and gas unit would merge with Woodside, and Woodside would issue new shares to be distributed to BHP shareholders.
It values the BHP Petroleum unit about $18.5bn, largely in line with analyst valuation estimates.
The company said that the expanded Woodside would be 52 per cent owned by existing Woodside shareholders and 48 per cent by existing BHP shareholders.
Some Woodside shareholders on Tuesday were arguing the ratio should have been close to 55 per cent ownership for Woodside, with BHP holding the remainder.
They also believed the price was rich and were concerned about the impact that the transaction would have on the Woodside share price in the months ahead.
The transaction announced on Tuesday was subject to due diligence, negotiation and execution of documents.
It is also believed to be subject to a shareholder vote.
The deal creates the largest energy company listed in Australia with a position in the global top 10 in the LNG industry by production.
It came as the company confirmed Meg O’Neill as Woodside’s chief executive, surprising some who believed that BHP Petroleum’s boss Geraldine Slattery was in line to get the top job.
Apparently, investment bankers and lawyers were kept in the dark about the identity of the new chief executive throughout the transaction negotiations.
Ms O’Neill will be paid a base salary of $2.2m and is entitled to incentives of up to $4.4m.
Woodside is able to terminate her employment after six months’ notice.
Goldman Sachs has been one of the largest recipients of the latest M&A boom in Australia.
It advised Afterpay on the $39bn sale announced in recent weeks to US-based Square, advised by Morgan Stanley, and has a role with Oil Search in the merger talks unfolding with Santos.
It is also advising an IFM-led consortium on efforts to buy Sydney Airport for almost $23bn.
But the latest transaction was a big win for JPMorgan, which is said to have played a significant part in aiding BHP in its Woodside merger talks over the sale of its petroleum business, much of which involved its Australian head of renewables, energy and infrastructure Andrew Sutherland.
However, the thinking is that the deal boom is not over yet.
The talk in the market is that next to come is APA Group in September with a major acquisition and a $2bn equity raising.
Again, featuring in that line up for the raise is tipped to be Goldman Sachs, along with Macquarie Group and JPMorgan.
But no doubt industry newcomers Barrenjoey Capital Partners and Jarden will not be far behind when other deals emerge in the coming months hustling for a greater slice of the pie.
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