Julie Spencer

Deal management, senior finance and operations services, special projects, negotiate and conclude business agreements for family office and real estate fund managers in Australia and UK.

• Managed an array of complex Fund legacy issues, including the restructure and refinance of ten apartment property funds, investor relations, divestments.
• Produce investment memorandums for unit trust syndicates and loan note offerings.
• Resolve complex legacy issues involving ASIC and ATO, wind up of retail and wholesale funds, managing investors involved in legacy issues.
• Created and implemented deal due diligence processes, compliance and legal review process.
• Responsible for corporate governance, AFSL compliance, business insurances, banking relationships, service provider and auditor relationships, oversight of external HR and IT.
• Leadership and oversight of finance team and all related deliverables, management of legal, tax and other external professional advisors.
• Managed 10 direct reports.

• Traditional CFO duties.
• Projects: establish finance and operations functions, bridge financing from Goldman Sachs; NPL syndicate.
• Recruit and lead the finance team, AFSL, learning and development and performance reviews.

Fixed term contract to build and manage a team to create a AUD$3 billion senior debt strategy. Collaborate with specialist advisors to target syndicate lenders, raise debt, negotiate and deliver through to legal execution / close.

• Oversee the creation of the senior debt plan and cornerstone ECA funding plan.
• Establish and manage Project Funding team to deliver all debt raising.
• Project manage and structure ECA cornerstone debt (~$1B AUD).
• Project manage syndicated senior debt for the joint venture.
• Liaise with treasury on capital and debt structure of joint venture.
• Review capital alliance opportunities.
• Manage lender due diligence.
• Supported the M&A and Strategy team in Brisbane by contributing to the delivery of capital alliance strategies with institutional investors for Aurizon, reviews of M&A roadshow material and the design and delivery of restructure and exit proposals pertaining to the WPIOP investment.

Europa Capital raised ten real estate funds and committed to over 130 transactions totaling some €11.3 billion across 20 European countries.

• Established and led the advisory and execution unit supporting the acquisition team and investment committee on pan-European deal tax and legal structuring (deals typically in excess of €100m).
• Structured acquisitions and sales of corporate entities involving complex cross jurisdictional structuring), legal negotiations, new Fund launch structuring as part of the capital raising process.
• Provided extensive execution / transaction management services to the origination, investment cross-border operational team.
• Managed complex corporate structuring issues (e.g. financial assistance, toxic swaps, restructuring such as debt to equity swaps, spin outs, hive outs and mergers – i.e. necessary restructure steps to allow companies to be de-risked for acquisition).
• Assess the target/s’ in order to ensure all areas of risk could be overcome to allow the target to be acquired and business plans to be implemented.
• Cross-border commercial negotiations vendor and JV partners, lawyers, tax and financial advisors.
• Structure and establish the Mezzanine Fund to allow international investors to tax efficiently invest in UK Mezzanine debt assets.
• Structure Europa's sub-business joint ventures.

MGPA is a Pan-European Private Equity Real Estate Fund advisory company, owned and controlled by Macquarie Bank, (since acquired by BlackRock). MGPA successfully raised multiple Funds in excess of $10 billion USD from institutional investors (SWF, pension and super funds).

• Project management leader of pan-European deal closings (typical deal €150 million).
• Tax, financial and legal structuring, negotiations of legal documents with joint venture partners and banks and equity funding from investors.
• Manage tax, finance and legal due diligence and integrate risk reduction measures.
• Negotiate and recommend key legal documentation (e.g. SPA’s and SHAs, FAs, insurance) to boards and investment committee.
• Collaborate with cross-border investment origination and operational teams.
• During the GFC, significant restructuring work on existing assets involving JVs to restructure bank debt waterfall to ensure new equity returned in priority.
• Advise the capital raising team on new Fund structures, review investor information and LPA legal documentation during capital raising.

• Project manage from Pipeline origination to closing, asset management monitoring.
• Review legal documentation including share and purchase agreements, balance sheet purchase price, joint venture / shareholder agreements, ensure these agreements are in line with due diligence findings and worked in harmony with bank facility agreements, internal funding documents, tax structure and regulation.
• · Plan and draft appropriate internal finance structures such as shareholder loans, PPLs, funding designs to consider thin cap rules or interest cap rules and corporate law requirements with regards to minimum equity.
• Key liaison for international company secretarial, provide deal documentation, update deal folders / data rooms.
• Create and implement an effective direct transaction execution and operational handover framework and process compliant with Macquarie standards.

• Review due diligence reports and investment models, analyse and review for SPA, JVA inclusions / potential deal breakers as well as prudent underwriting assumptions.
• Review investments for opportunities to increase shareholder value e.g. tax-free step ups, and increasing leverage, monitoring thin cap and corporate law.
• Key liaison for finance team to ensure ongoing tax and legal management of AUM.

• Responsible for ensuring that project finance reported timely quarterly investor position statements for the Investor Relations team, quarterly accounts, consolidation and statutory accounts (IFRS and Luxembourg) and tax obligations.
• Work with the investment and asset management team to analyse and interpret data, updating investment models.
• Hire, train and supervise project accountants,