Viva Energy Group Limited completed its A$2.65 billion (approximately $2 billion) initial public offering and listing of its shares on the Australian Securities Exchange, making it the largest Australian IPO since 2014, the largest oil & gas IPO to date in 2018 and the largest non-privatization IPO in Australian history. The company’s selling shareholder, Vitol Investment Partnership Limited, a Vitol Holdings B.V.-led consortium, retained approximately 45 percent of the shares. The shares were offered in the United States pursuant to Rule 144A and outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S. S&C represented the joint lead managers, led by Deutsche Bank AG, Sydney Branch, Merrill Lynch Equities (Australia) Limited and UBS AG, Australia Branch.
Viva Energy is one of Australia’s leading integrated downstream petroleum companies. Over the past three years, Viva Energy has supplied more than 14 billion liters of petroleum products annually, representing approximately a quarter of Australia’s fuel needs. Viva Energy supplies those products to a national network of approximately 1,165 retail sites, predominantly operated under a long-term alliance with Coles Express, one of Australia’s largest retailers, as well as to other retail operators and wholesale and commercial customers. Viva Energy also manufactures and sells a range of specialty products such as bitumen and chemicals.
The S&C team was led by Waldo Jones, along with Joon Hong and Clinton Eastman. Jeffrey Hochberg and Saul Brander, along with Joshua Graybill advised on U.S. taxation matters.