Ashurst advises Judo Bank on its IPO and listing on ASX

Judo Bank is Australia’s first challenger bank for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and is the first fully licensed Australian bank to IPO in 25 years. The IPO comes less than three years after Judo Bank was granted its full banking licence in April 2019. The total IPO size was $657 million, achieved with strong interest from a large number of institutional and retail investors. The offer price for the IPO was $2.10 per share, with an implied equity valuation of $2.3 billion. The IPO was fully underwritten by Barrenjoey, Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs Australia. 

Ashurst has been advising Judo since its incorporation in 2016, including on its successful application for a banking licence, its multiple rounds of equity financing totalling over $1 billion, on each of its wholesale funding facilities and on its recent Tier 2 Capital issuance.

The Ashurst team was led by partner Stuart Dullard, who was assisted by partners Sarah Dulhunty and Greg Golding, senior associate Jason Maletic, associates David Tilley and Tom McCann, and graduate Jeffrey Zhao (Corporate Transactions); partner Tim Brookes, senior associate Sashini Walpola, associates Mitchell Bazzana and Tegan Keizer and graduate Katharine Tang (Digital Economy); partner Jane Harvey, senior associate Daniel Fawcett and associate Ruby Wade (Employment); partners Jonathan Gordon and Philip Trinca, counsel Caroline Ord, senior associates Helen Yu and Dominic Tran, and associates Rojeene Shadfar and Sheenae LeCornu (Finance Regulatory); partners Caroline Smart and Jennifer Schlosser, and associates Catherine Han and Keith James (Global Markets); partner Rehana Box and senior associate Alexandra Nash (Insurance); partner Anita Cade, senior associate Stevie Gough and associate Josephine Gardiner (IP / Media); with partners Geoffrey Mann, Ian Kellock and Sanjay Wavde, senior associates James Sainty and Eli Bursky, associate Alice Kim and graduate Hayley Young.