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Sale of 7-Eleven Australia to 7IN for A$1.71 billion

In December 2023, the Withers and Barlow families sold its 100% interest in Convenience Group Holdings Pty Ltd (7-Eleven Australia) to 7-Eleven International LLC (7IN) for A$1.71 billion. 7-Eleven Australia is Australia’s leading convenience retailer with a network of over 750 stores across Victoria, New South Wales, ACT, Queensland and Western Australia, processing 250 million transactions each year, and employing more than 9,000 people across the corporate and franchise network.

7IN is a joint venture between 7-Eleven Inc. and Seven-Eleven Japan, Co. Ltd and is responsible for the 7-Eleven’s global growth strategy. 7-Eleven International master franchises and/or licenses more than 46,000 stores in 16 countries and regions.

7-Eleven Inc. is owned by Tokyo-based Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd and operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 13,000 stores in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Seven-Eleven Japan, Co. Ltd. operates more than 21,000 stores throughout Japan.

Azure Capital acted as exclusive financial adviser to 7-Eleven Australia on the sale, including the provision of valuation, structuring and strategic advice, and negotiation of relevant transaction agreements.

A$635m acquisition of Onsite Rental Group

In April 2023, Sime Darby Berhad (“Sime Darby”) through its wholly owned subsidiary, Sime Darby Allied Operations Pty Ltd, completed the acquisition of Onsite Rental Group Limited (“Onsite”) for an enterprise value of A$635m.

Sime Darby operates in the industrial and motors sectors with a presence in 19 countries and territories across the Asia Pacific region. It is listed on the main market of Bursa Malaysia with a market capitalisation of RM14.93 billion (USD3.38 billion) as of 3 April 2023.

Onsite is a market leading provider of business-to-business equipment rental solutions to blue chip customers across a range of industries in the Australian market including resources, energy, industrial and commercial. Azure Capital acted as financial adviser to Sime Darby on all aspects of the transaction including valuation and strategic advice, coordination of due diligence and negotiation of the relevant transaction agreements.

Sale of WIRSOL Energy to Gentari

In February 2023, WIRCON GmbH sold its Australian renewables business, WIRSOL Energy, to a wholly owned subsidiary of Gentari Sdn Bhd (“Gentari”). The WIRSOL Energy portfolio consists of more than 400MW operating assets, a development pipeline of more than 3 GW, Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and Asset Management (AM) services.

WIRCON is a global renewable energy group, which develops high quality renewable energy assets. Since entering the market in 2013, WIRCON has been focusing on expansion in domestic and international locations to initiate the development and construction of solar parks. The WIRCON group has more than 30 employees at its German locations in Mannheim, Berlin and Saarbruecken.

Gentari is a clean energy company focused on delivering the integrated net-zero solutions required to put cleaner energy into action today, to transform how we live tomorrow. Gentari offers lower carbon solutions through three initial core pillars – Renewable Energy, Hydrogen and Green Mobility, forming a portfolio of solutions cutting across the electron value chain to help customers achieve net zero emissions. In the long term, Gentari aims to be a full suite net zero solutions provider, creating greater value, connecting businesses, and making the journey to net zero possible.

Azure Capital acted as exclusive financial adviser to WIRCON GmbH on the sale including the provision of valuation, structuring and strategic advice, restructuring of the portfolio debt financing, and negotiation of relevant transaction agreements.

Acquisition of Akaysha Energy and A$1b capital commitment

In September 2022, BlackRock Real Assets acquired Akaysha Energy (Akaysha), one of Australia’s leading battery energy storage system (BESS) and renewable energy developers. As part of the acquisition, BlackRock intends to commit over A$1 billion of capital to support the build-out of over 1 gigawatt (GW) of battery storage assets across Akaysha’s nine projects in the National Electricity Market (NEM) in Australia.

The acquisition of Akaysha and related capital commitment is the first BESS investment made by BlackRock’s Climate Infrastructure business (part of BlackRock Real Assets) in the Asia-Pacific region. BlackRock is one of the world’s largest asset managers with ~US$8.5 trillion of assets under management (AUM). BlackRock Real Assets has over 400 professionals in 30 offices managing over US$70 billion in client commitments as of 30 June 2022, with climate related infrastructure accounting for ~US$9 billion AUM globally.

Azure Capital acted as financial adviser to BlackRock Real Assets on the acquisition, including the provision of valuation, structuring and strategic advice, and negotiation of relevant transaction agreements.

US$378m sale of Prospect's 87% interest in the Arcadia Lithium Project

Prospect Resources Limited , an ASX-listed resources company focused on the exploration and development of battery and electrification related mining projects in Zimbabwe and the broader sub-Saharan African region, has completed the sale of its 87% interest in the Arcadia Lithium Project to Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., Limited (Huayou) for upfront cash consideration of approximately US$378 million.

Huayou is a leading Chinese new energy materials producer with three major business segments (1) research, development and production of cathode materials, (2) research, development and production of battery precursor, and (3) development of battery metals resources. Huayou is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of approximately US$22 billion. Huayou continues to execute on its proactive business development strategy to build a new energy materials business division, which includes significant investments in the lithium resources sector. Huayou has been operating two copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2007 and is investing in four nickel and cobalt projects in Indonesia with an expected annual production of 255kt of nickel and 20kt of cobalt by 2024.

The transaction was first announced on 23 December 2021 and following satisfaction of all conditions precedent, completed on 20 April 2022. Huayou also contemporaneously acquired the remaining 13% of the project from local Zimbabwean interests.