In 2023, a milestone merger led to the creation of New Zealand’s largest hospitality group. Now, the two M&A advisers that orchestrated the transaction have been awarded the BDO Mid-Market M&A Transaction of the Year 2024 award.
Star Hospitality Group was formed as the result of DB Breweries’ acquisition of Kāpura and the merger with its majority-owned Joylab. Cameron Partners, acting for the Kāpura shareholders, and Forsyth Barr, acting for DB Breweries, have been recognised for their efforts in the transaction as joint recipients of the BDO Mid-Market M&A Transaction of the Year award at the 2024 INFINZ Awards.
As an added complexity, DB Breweries needed to negotiate the buyout of Joylab’s minority shareholders to deliver DB Breweries a path to complete ownership of Joylab, providing certainty to Kāpura shareholders and maximising alignment.
“For Heineken, to make the transaction successful it was critical to have the people who were going to run the business moving forward aligned and incentivised to create value and grow the business,” he says. “The transaction was very complicated, but ensuring that, throughout all the difficult transaction negotiations, that alignment was kept between the founders and Heineken was ultimately what made the transaction a success.”
For Stephen Kaiser, Partner at Cameron Partners, a methodical process was key to the successful transaction.
“Even though the hurdles were massive at the outset, working through them systematically and methodically with really good advisers over the transaction meant you could work through them with ease and ultimately get the transaction done.”
“For me, the key takeout of this award was the sheer complexity of the transaction that the advisers needed to deal with. I’d like to congratulate Forsyth Barr and Cameron Partners for their success in this year’s BDO Mid-Market M&A Transaction of the Year award.”
“Hopefully this transaction inspires others not to be daunted by complex factors. If you methodically work through it and have the right people around you, it’s amazing what you can achieve,” he says.
At BDO, we are proud to support deal activity in New Zealand and we look forward to celebrating more mid-market M&A transactions through our ongoing partnership with INFINZ.
To learn more about our mergers and acquisitions expertise, click here.
Star Hospitality Group was formed as the result of DB Breweries’ acquisition of Kāpura and the merger with its majority-owned Joylab. Cameron Partners, acting for the Kāpura shareholders, and Forsyth Barr, acting for DB Breweries, have been recognised for their efforts in the transaction as joint recipients of the BDO Mid-Market M&A Transaction of the Year award at the 2024 INFINZ Awards.
A complex and strategic transaction
Kāpura initially approached Cameron Partners to assist with raising growth capital, however the project soon pivoted towards a strategic transaction with DB Breweries (owned by Heineken) and Joylab. The ensuing work included extensive discussions around the parties’ ambitions, deal structure, valuation and terms, with exclusivity not granted.As an added complexity, DB Breweries needed to negotiate the buyout of Joylab’s minority shareholders to deliver DB Breweries a path to complete ownership of Joylab, providing certainty to Kāpura shareholders and maximising alignment.
Alignment and process the key to success
The complexities involved in transactions of this size and scope can create challenges but Kerry Greer, Co-Head of Investment Banking at Forsyth Barr, says this was made easier by ensuring the stakeholders were always aligned.“For Heineken, to make the transaction successful it was critical to have the people who were going to run the business moving forward aligned and incentivised to create value and grow the business,” he says. “The transaction was very complicated, but ensuring that, throughout all the difficult transaction negotiations, that alignment was kept between the founders and Heineken was ultimately what made the transaction a success.”
For Stephen Kaiser, Partner at Cameron Partners, a methodical process was key to the successful transaction.
“Even though the hurdles were massive at the outset, working through them systematically and methodically with really good advisers over the transaction meant you could work through them with ease and ultimately get the transaction done.”
Recognition for an excellent transaction
BDO Deal Advisory Partner Simon Peacocke says the INFINZ award is a fantastic acknowledgement of the hard work involved in mid-market deal activity.“For me, the key takeout of this award was the sheer complexity of the transaction that the advisers needed to deal with. I’d like to congratulate Forsyth Barr and Cameron Partners for their success in this year’s BDO Mid-Market M&A Transaction of the Year award.”
A future of mid-market activity
The DB Breweries, Kāpura and Joylab transaction is a prime example of the exciting M&A activity occurring in New Zealand, and one that Stephen Kaiser hopes will encourage others in the industry.“Hopefully this transaction inspires others not to be daunted by complex factors. If you methodically work through it and have the right people around you, it’s amazing what you can achieve,” he says.
At BDO, we are proud to support deal activity in New Zealand and we look forward to celebrating more mid-market M&A transactions through our ongoing partnership with INFINZ.
To learn more about our mergers and acquisitions expertise, click here.