Citadel-MAGNUS has continued to go from strength to strength, cementing its position as one of Australia’s leading corporate and financial communication firms.
Recent acknowledgment of the team’s efforts came with Mergermarket’s annual league tables for PR firms that ranked Citadel-MAGNUS third in Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) for M&A deal value in calendar year 2018 and ninth by deal volume in the region over the same period.
The company’s third ranking across the whole of Asia-Pacific makes Citadel-MAGNUS the most active Australian financial communication advisory firm. Some of the 2018 deals we advised on included Investa Office Fund’s $3 billion takeover defence, Amcor’s proposed $6 billion takeover of US packaging group Bemis, CYBG’s $3 billion takeover of Virgin Money and Mitsui’s $602 million contested takeover of AWE.
The firm’s investor relations practice continues to expand, offering companies a genuine outsourced investor relations model, working cohesively with senior management and Boards. It has been a particularly valuable resource for our IPO clients coming to market and requiring communication guidance in the critical first 12 months as a public company.
Overall we are seeing company boards embrace the increasingly important role communication plays in building a company’s credibility and reputation. This includes the heightened role of a company identifying and developing actions and a clear narrative around the principles associated with environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters. Read more here about leading fund managers’ warning against ESG neglect.
NEW TEAM MEMBERS
Citadel-MAGNUS has continued to build its team of professional corporate and financial communication consultants with several new senior appointments.
Catharina Boer
has joined the Sydney office as Associate Director, bringing more than 20 years’ experience in a career that has spanned corporate communication, public affairs, government relations and reputation management. She has provided public relations counsel and lead media and communication campaigns across multiple sectors in Australia and internationally in both in-house and agency environments.
Recently, Catharina delivered the communications and stakeholder engagement component for a leading global construction consortium who successfully tendered for Snowy Hydro 2.0 – a $6 billion Federal Government funded pumped hydro-electricity project, managed community relations for several large private and public school developments in NSW and lead external communications for Harbour City Ferries, the operators of the Sydney Ferry network.
Nyomi Horgan, former Executive Manager of Corporate Strategy at Bankwest, and Paul Ryan, former External Relations Manager at Shell Australia, both joined Citadel-MAGNUS Perth as Directors.
Nyomi has more than 25 years of corporate communication, stakeholder management, strategy development and investor relations experience gained in both the UK and Australian markets.
She has provided counsel to management on several complex issues in the corporate sector and led the communication strategies extending across a broad range of industries including resources, energy, manufacturing, retail and financial services.
Her strong track record in corporate and strategic communication was established during a number of years with PwC, Alinta and a specialist corporate communication business where clients included Woodside, Brookfield Rail, Gold Fields Australia, Oakejee Port and Rail, INPEX, Esperance Port Authority and Crosslands Resources.
Paul has extensive experience in the oil and gas, agriculture and agribusiness sectors, where he developed a strong track record of managing corporate reputations in challenging regulatory and stakeholder environments.
Paul is adept at working with diverse and dynamic operations most recently as External Relations Manager at Shell Australia, where he was responsible for the management of non-technical risk for and reputation of Shell’s upstream assets.
He has provided strategic communication counsel across Australia’s metropolitan hubs and regional Western Australia, making representations to government, devising stakeholder engagement programs and effectively managing corporate and operational issues.
ON THE MOVE…
Citadel-MAGNUS has positioned itself for further growth in the Sydney market by moving into larger premises at Suite 27.03, Level 27, 420 George Street, Sydney.
“We have the capacity for further growth, as well as the quality of facilities to host corporate events for our clients, such as formal meetings, investor presentations and media training programs,” said Peter Brookes, Managing Director in Sydney.
CLIENT UPDATES
Perpetual
Citadel-MAGNUS has been appointed to one of the first and largest IPO’s for 2019, with Perpetual launching a Credit and Income Trust, to raise up to $400 million.
Perpetual is tapping into the growing retail investor demand for portfolio diversification, and the increased level of demand for debt and credit products, particularly given the defensive characteristics.
NAB, CommSec and Morgans are leading the process for Perpetual, which would represent their first ASX listed product in the credit and debt sector. The company is hoping to have the fund up and running by May 2019.
Cedar Woods Properties
Against a backdrop of a challenging Australian property market, Citadel-MAGNUS has continued to successfully support Cedar Woods Properties in communicating its strategy of growing a national portfolio, diversified by geography, product type and price point.
Cedar Woods, a client of Citadel-MAGNUS since 2010, has performed strongly in comparison to sector peers, underpinned by record 1H2019 financial and operational results.
With projects at various stages of development in Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia, and a focus on operational excellence, Cedar Woods is well positioned to create long-term shareholder value.
2019 RIDE FOR YOUTH
In 2019 Citadel-MAGNUS has committed to a fifth straight year sponsoring a team in the Ride For Youth to support Youth Focus, a not for profit organisation supporting youth mental health.
The support to date has been unbelievable with $58,000 raised by the team and $1.3m in total across the event. Citadel-MAGNUS managing director, John Gardner, will participate in his fifth Ride For Youth, riding 700kms from Albany to Perth, visiting schools to help destigmatise mental health and raise awareness of Youth Focus’ services. You can support the cause here.
THE GREEN ROOM
Closing the Deal in 2019: Key Factors for Successful Transaction Communication
2018 was regarded as the ‘Year of Living Nervously’ after the ASX shed over $90 billion in February amid fears of rapidly rising interest rates in the US. By December the ASX recorded its worst yearly performance since 2011 and the worst fourth quarter since the GFC.
