Joseph Muraca is a partner in our Melbourne office working in our Mergers and Acquisitions team. He is a specialist in all areas of mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets and governance with over 25 years' experience. Joseph works with clients across a wide range of sectors including financial services and fintech, telecommunications, information technology and infrastructure.
The combination of Joseph's technical expertise and his commercial approach to problem solving has seen him work with key local and international clients on some of Australia's most high profile transactions across:
- equity capital markets, including hybrid offerings, secondary capital raisings as well as shareholder and employee equity plans
- public and private M&A, including acquisitions by scheme of arrangement and takeovers, trade sales and sophisticated joint ventures
- restructures, strategic initiatives and corporate governance.
Experience
- Transurban: raising over $15 billion in equity capital since 2014 via entitlement offers and placements to fund the acquisitions of stakes in WestConnex, Queensland Motorways, Airportlink M7, the West Gate Tunnel Project and the minority interests in M5West and advising Transurban as consortium member of STP on its acquisition of the remaining 49% in WestConnex
- ANZ: raising nearly $21 billion in right issues, retail and institutional regulatory capital issuances and capital management programs, including buy-backs of hybrid capital and ordinary shares and $77 billion 'top hat' restructure by scheme of arrangement
- Telstra: $42 billion corporate restructure and 'top hat' by scheme of arrangment, proposed $5.5 billion securitisation of nbn receipts, sale of Sensis, proposed Philippines JV with San Miguel, acquisition of Vita Group's ICT and Sprout business and acquisitions and disposals of various portfolio investments including for Telstra Health and Telstra Purple
- SEEK: establishing the $1.2 billion SEEK Growth Fund and concurrent seed $460 million capital raising, acquisition of GradConnection as well as acquisitions of stakes in Digitary, Sidekicker, GO1, Employment Hero, jobandtalent and various other portfolio investments
- IRESS: response to $3.2 billion takeover proposal by EQT, takeover of OneVue by scheme of arrangement and acquisitions of Lucsan, Financial Synergy, PlanTech Consulting, VisiPlan and Avelo FS Holdings and associated equity capital raisings, as well as various other portfolio investments and disposals
- NAB: $3 billion placement and accompanying $1.25 billion SPP, $3.2 billion demerger and IPO of Clydesdale Bank, $5.5 billion entitlement offer, nearly $5 billion in regulatory capital issuances and capital management programs, as well as the acquisitions and sales of various investments and joint venture stakes
- IAG: raising nearly $1.5 billion in equity capital since 2022 through ASX and NZX listed notes, NZ $500 million in on-market share buy-backs, sale of Community Broker Network and the acquisition and establishment of its smash repair operations (including associated JV arrangements), Motorserve and establishment of home services JV
- Templeton Global Growth Fund: $962 million merger by scheme of arrangement with WAM Global and concurrent off market buy-back
- Asaleo Care: $788 million acquisition by scheme of arrangement by Essity Group
- AXA Asia Pacific: $14.5 billion acquisition by AMP and AXA SA (and competing proposal from NAB) and earlier $890 million placement and SPP
- IPOs: $5.6 billion IPO of Medibank Private, $1 billion IPO of Estia Health, $3.2 billion IPO of Clydesdale Bank, IPOs of Virtus and Steadfast and proposed floats of Energy Australia, BIS and Affinity Health
Professional Memberships
- University of Melbourne: Senior Fellow of the Melbourne Law Masters where he teaches an undergraduate course in schemes and takeovers, having previously taught a masters course in shareholder activism and shareholder rights and remedies
- Monash University: Visiting Lecturer, where he teaches an undergraduate course in listed company corporate governance, having previously taught a masters course in equity capital markets
Joseph is also a joint lead author of the "Fundraising and disclosure" chapter in 7th Edition of "Australian Finance Law" published by Thomson Reuters. He is also ranked in the Chambers Global Guide in equity capital markets.
