The drawn-out disaster that was Slater & Gordon was front of mind for fund managers when we broke the news that law firm HWL Ebsworth was lining up for a $500 million-plus initial public offering and $1 billion-odd shot at the ASX boards.
So it’s not surprising that in meetings with fund managers this week, HWL Ebsworth was quick to point out it was no Slater & Gordon.
It took Slater & Gordon 400 days or more to convert work in progress into cash in its bank account, but HWL Ebsworth told funds it had no such problems. Its average WIP days – the time taken to turn work into fees – was 26 in the 2020 financial year, 28 in 2019 and 30 days in 2018.
Elsewhere in the capital markets, South32 has hired Canada’s Scotiabank to find a buyer for the royalties, which include income streams from base metals and gold projects. And Iberdrola has won the day at Infigen Energy after rival suitor UAC Energy sold its 19.9 per cent stake to the Spanish giant.
Happy reading,
Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Tim Boyd Street Talk Editors
PNG bank owner Kina is making a play for Westpac's up-for-sale Pacific unit, and could ask shareholders to help restock its war chest as early as Thursday.
