Recognized Australian law firm Allens had advised Vicinity Centres on its capital raising which is expected to reach $1.4 billion. Vicinity is one of the largest listed managers of Australian retail property dedicated to asset management platform and retail assets under management across 64 shopping centres around Australia.

The capital raising includes a fully subscribed placement of $1.2 billion and a stock purchase plan to raise up to $200 million, with proceeds used to reduce debt and strengthen Vicinity's balance sheet. Vicinity was able to utilize the increased placement capacity of the 25% provided by the temporary exemption of the ASX class from Rule 7.1 of the stock exchange listing.

"We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to work with Vicinity on this important capital raising, which provides Vicinity with the balance sheet strength and flexibility to respond to the uncertainty caused by COVID-19 and the evolving retail landscape" said Robert Pick, Allen's partner and co-head of Equity Capital Markets.

Since early April, the Allens Equity Capital Markets team has advised on capital raising efforts that have raised more than $11.5 billion. "We really appreciate the opportunity to work closely with our long-standing clients to help them raise capital in these uncertain times", said Robert. 

Enhanced by the recent temporary regulatory reforms at ASX, this period has once again demonstrated that the Australian market is a very efficient market for issuers to raise capital with certainty.