US Debt and Equity Offers by Australian and New Zealand Issuers in 2024

A significant number of Australian and New Zealand issuers accessed the US capital markets in 2024. We have identified 145 US debt and equity offers that were completed by Australian and New Zealand issuers in 2024, with a median amount raised of A$100 million.

The following graph shows the number of debt and equity offers completed by Australian and New Zealand issuers in the United States over the past ten years:

As interest rates declined and market conditions improved in the United States, the total number of debt and equity offers increased 13% in 2024 compared to 2023.

The number of US debt deals increased 9%, with the number of Rule 144A investment-grade bond offers increasing 62% from 13 in 2023 to 21 in 2024 (with 75% of the transactions by financial institutions). While the number of SEC-registered and Rule 144A high yield bond transactions remained relatively constant in 2024, the number of US Private Placements (all by non-financial institutions) decreased 24% from 17 in 2023 to 13 in 2024.

The total number of US equity raisings increased 16% from 92 in 2023 to 107 in 2024. In particular, the number of ‘low doc’ offers (eg, placements and accelerated entitlement offers) increased 15% from 82 in 2023 to 94 in 2024 while none of the few Australian IPOs in 2024 included a US tranche. Most striking, the number of SEC-registered equity raisings by Australian companies and ASX-listed US companies more than quadrupled from 3 in 2023 to 13 in 2024, including 6 companies completing an IPO with a listing on Nasdaq or NYSE American as well as 4 other companies raising capital via ‘at the market’ facilities. It’s interesting to note that Life360 Inc., which is a US company that had a sole listing on ASX since 2019, undertook an IPO in the United States to raise US$155 million and listed on Nasdaq while another company (Anteris) re-domiciled from Australia to Delaware and completed a US$89 million IPO in the United States and dual listed on Nasdaq and ASX.

In addition to the IPOs undertaken by Australian companies in the United States, two ASX-listed Australian companies (Telix Pharmaceuticals and Radiopharm Theranostics, which Rimon advised) completed compliance listings (also known as Level 2 ADR programs) on Nasdaq without raising capital.

While the number of dual listed Australian companies increased in 2024, we advised one Australian company (Bionomics Limited) on its re-domiciliation to become a Delaware corporation (Neuphoria Therapeutics Inc.) in 2024 with a listing solely on Nasdaq.

Other offshore equity markets continue to be important. Based upon our work as International Counsel, more than 300 Australian and New Zealand issuers tapped Asian, Canadian and European institutional equity investors in 2024.

Click here to download a chart that lists the US debt and equity offers completed by Australian and New Zealand issuers in 2024.

Over the past 25 years, Andrew Reilly has represented Australian and New Zealand companies on more than 2,000 offers of debt and equity securities in the United States. He also advises underwriters and placement agents ranging from boutique to “bulge bracket” investment banks. Andrew’s practice focuses on US securities and corporate law matters. He advises on private placements, Rule 144A transactions and US public offers of debt and equity securities, including Nasdaq listings. He also advises on re-domiciliation of Australian companies to Delaware, commercial matters, bank finance and cross-border M&A transactions. Read more here.