About Jeremy
Jeremy Leibler practises in commercial and corporate law with a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions, takeovers and takeover defences, public and private capital raisings and shareholder activism and board disputes. His major clients include both listed public companies and private entrepreneurs.
Jeremy is a non-executive director of ASX listed Thorney Technologies Limited. He is also a member of the Australian Takeovers Panel, having been appointed by the Governor General, the Hon Sir Peter Cosgrove, in 2015.
Jeremy has an intimate knowledge of the law and market practices relevant to listed companies and property trusts in Australia and is frequently quoted in the media and as a guest lecturer at Monash University. He is a regular speaker on takeovers, shareholder activism, proxy advisers and related issues. In 2016, he partnered with Activist Insight to produce a report providing the first detailed analysis of activist investing trends and insights in Australia.
Jeremy is recognised for his expertise in corporate/M&A and capital markets in prominent international guides to law firms, including Chambers Asia Pacific and The Legal 500 Asia Pacific. He is recognised by Best Lawyers® International in the area of commercial law and has been ranked by Doyle’s Guide Australia as ‘pre-eminent’ in the categories of private equity and corporate/M&A in Melbourne. Jeremy has also been named by the Australian Financial Review as one of Australia’s top 25 private capital dealmakers.
Jeremy is a member of the Corporations Committee of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia, a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and of the International Bar Association.
"Jeremy is a first-class lawyer with an excellent commercial acumen and very impressive judgement in multiple contexts."
Practice focus
Jeremy’s practice focuses on the following areas:
- public takeovers, mergers and acquisitions
- public and private capital raisings, including initial public offerings and ASX listings
- corporate governance and advisory
- shareholder activism and board disputes
- proxy advisers and related issues
- joint ventures and commercial agreements, and
- general commercial and corporate advice.
Experience
Jeremy has acted in a range of corporate and commercial matters, including:
Corporate and M&A
- Retailors Ltd: in relation to its acquisition of Retail Prodigy Group Pty Ltd, the partner and operator of Nike and Samsung stores across Australia and New Zealand, and the online retail operator for Mattel in Australia
- InstantScripts: in relation to its $135 million sale to Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wesfarmers Limited)
- Hume Partners: in relation to a $2.3 billion proposal to acquire 100% of Australian Unity Healthcare Property Trust, in which Hume Partners is the largest unitholder at 16.2%
- Charter Hall and Hostplus: in relation to their $1.68 billion acquisition of Australia's biggest freehold hotel/pub property owner, ALE Property Group, by way of scheme of arrangement
- ELMO Software: in relation to its proposed acquisition by K1 Investment Management by way of scheme of arrangement
- View Media Group: in relation to its acquisition of proptech firm, The Today Business
- Cromwell Property Group: in relation to its planned demerger and IPO of an externally managed ASX listed office A-REIT
- Leydin Freyer: in relation to the sale of business to global services provider Vistra
- Praemium: in relation to the sale of its international businesses to global investment research house Morningstar for $65.1 million
- ARA Asset Management, a leading Asia Pacific real estate funds manager: on its unsolicited $511 million proportional off-market takeover of ASX listed Cromwell Property Group, including associated Takeovers Panel proceedings
- Zip Co: in relation to its entry into the US market through its $400 million acquisition of New York based BNPL QuadPay Inc
- Kogan: in relation to:
- its $122.4 million acquisition of Mighty Ape Limited, and
- its acquisition of Matt Blatt
- the shareholders of Market Eye: in relation to its sale to one of Australia’s largest share registry businesses, Automic Group
- StarRez: in relation to a significant strategic growth investment from global technology investment firm, Vista Equity Partners
- John Kirby: in relation to the $468 million takeover offer from BGH for Village Roadshow
- Michael Schreiber, The founder of Funlab: on his sale and rollover as part of the overall sale to global private equity firm TPG Capital
- a consortium controlled by Antony Catalano and Thorney Investment Group: in relation to the $115 million acquisition of the Australian Community Media and printing business from Nine Entertainment
- Dial-A-Dump Industries: in relation to the sale of the privately owned group to ASX listed Bingo Industries for $577.5 million
- Specialty Fashion Group (now City Chic Collective): in relation to the strategic sale of its brand portfolio to Noni B
- Australian Sustainable Hardwoods: in relation to:
- its sale of the company to the Victorian State Government
- its initial acquisition of the Heyfield timber mill, the largest hardwood sawmill in Australia in 2012
- Airmaster Australia: in relation to the sale of 100 per cent of the owners’ shares in the company to Daikin Industries for $100 million
- A private family group: in relation to its acquisition of the Sullivans Cove whisky business from Tasmania Distillery Pty Ltd
- RCG Group (now Accent Group): in relation to:
- its $200 million acquisition of Accent Group, the owner of retail chain Platypus Shoes and distributor of Vans, Sketchers, Dr Martens and Timberland
- its acquisition of the Saucony distribution rights in Australia
- its $105 million acquisition of Hype DC, the owner of Hype DC and Shubar retail stores
- Solomon Lew: in relation to the $2.2 billion scheme of arrangements between Woolworths South Africa and David Jones Limited and the $2 billion takeover offer for Country Road Limited
- the shareholders of Australian Independent Business Media: in relation to the sale of the company to News Limited
- the Grenda family: in the sale of a majority stake in its bus manufacturing business, Volgren, to Brazilian company Marcopolo
- a consortium including associates of York Capital Management, Varde Partners and Goldman Sachs (Asia) Finance: in relation to a $278 million takeover and recapitalisation of Redcape Property Group
- Gyrocam Systems: in the sale of Gyrocam to Lockheed Martin Corporation, and
- Premier Investments: in relation to:
- its shareholding in the iconic Australian department store retailer Myer
- the successful $900 million takeover of Just Group Limited, and
- the sale in 2007 of its shareholding in Coles Group Limited to the Wesfarmers Consortium.
Capital markets
- Redcape Hotel Group: in relation to its delisting from the ASX
- Kogan: on its $100 million placement and share purchase plan
- Zip Co: on its $200 million convertible note fundraising in Australia with US based growth investor, Heights Capital Management
- Thorney Group: in relation to:
- the recapitalisation of ASX-listed shell Australian Renewable Fuels and relisting it on the ASX as a new investment entity, Thorney Technologies
- the recapitalisation of ASX-listed Wentworth Holdings and the establishment of Thorney Opportunities Limited
- RCG Group (now Accent Group): in relation to:
- its $135 million placement and share purchase plan to fund the acquisition of Accent Group
- its $52.5 million placement and $13.1 million vendor note fund to fund the acquisition of Hype DC
- zipMoney (now ZipCo): in relation to:
- its $47.8 million capital raising, comprising a $42.8 million private placement to sophisticated and professional investors and a $5 million share purchase plan offer to existing shareholders
- its $40 million strategic equity investment from Westpac Banking Corporation
- its $20.6 million private placement and its acquisition of personal finance app, Pocketbook
- Kogan.com: in relation to its $180 million IPO and listing on the ASX, and
- Hotel Property Investments: in relation to its $279 million IPO and listing on the ASX.
Shareholder activism
- Bruce Mathieson Group: Advised BMG, the largest shareholder of ASX-listed licenced hotels and retail drinks business, Endeavour Group, on the successful campaign for Board-level change.
- Saba Capital: Acted for New York activist investor, Saba Capital, in relation to its stake in Australian investment fund, Pengana International Equities, and the ASX-listed Magellan Flagship Fund and Magellan Global Fund.
- Alta Fox: Acted for US activist investor Alta Fox in its campaign against ASX-listed EML Payments.
- Abercrombie and Humm: Advised Humm director and major shareholder, Andrew Abercrombie, in relation to Latitude Financial’s bid to acquire Humm Group’s consumer finance business.
- ARA Asset Management: in relation to its campaign to appoint Dr Gary Weiss AM and Mr Joe Gersh AM to the board of Cromwell Property Group
- Merlon Capital Partners: in relation to its activism campaign against AMP Limited in relation to AMP’s $3.3 billion divestment of its life insurance business
- Premier Investments: in relation to its attempt to spill the board of Australian department store retailer, Myer.
- Praemium CEO, Michael Ohanessian: in relation to the successful board spill of the Praemium board, and
- Halom Investments: in relation to its campaign to remove MMA Offshore chairman Tony Howarth and chief executive Jeff Weber.
Directorships & memberships
Jeremy is a non-executive director of ASX listed Thorney Technologies Limited and a member of the Australian Takeovers Panel.
He is also a member of:
- the Corporations Committee of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia
- the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and
- the International Bar Association.
Jeremy is deeply committed to Jewish affairs, currently serving as the President of the Zionist Federation of Australia, the representative roof body for the Jewish community across Australia. He is also Deputy Chairman of Leibler Yavneh College and a member of the Board of Governors of the Hebrew University, which is ranked internationally among the 100 leading universities in the world and first among Israeli universities.
Awards & recognition
Jeremy is recognised as a leading lawyer by various international guides to lawyers and law firms, including:
- Australian Financial Review: one of Australia’s top 25 private capital dealmakers
- Best Lawyers® International: commercial law, corporate law, equity capital markets law, corporate/governance practice and mergers and acquisitions law
- Chambers Asia Pacific: corporate and M&A and capital markets: equity
- Doyle’s Guide: corporate and M&A and private equity, and
- Legal 500 Asia Pacific: corporate and M&A and capital markets.
