Was Bubs in the dark about Citi’s mandate? Emails indicate no
Bubs Australia’s former board was aware that Citi had been appointed and what the terms of its mandate were as early as September 2020, emails show, contradicting claims made in documents lodged with the Federal Court as part of a lawsuit brought against two of its former executives.
As part of a legal dispute with its former chief executive Kristy Carr and ex-chairman Dennis Lin, the baby formula company alleged this week that a $4 million minimum fee promised to Citi if there was a successful change of control transaction did not go through the proper authorisation processes.
While Bubs had not been directly approached by a possible suitor, the board opted to get the investment bank involved in case it became a target. Citi’s head of investment banking, Alex Cartel, won the mandate, which included work on strategy and engaging with institutional shareholders.
Bubs Australia co-founder and former CEO Kristy Carr is suing the company and its directors. James Brickwood
The Bubs directors at that time included Steven Lin, Matthew Reynolds, Dennis Lin and Ms Carr – all of whom agreed to move ahead with Citi, according to four emails dated September 14, 2020, seen by The Australian Financial Review. Citi declined to comment. Bubs recently appointed Melbourne-based adviser Kidder Williams to a similar role.
Matthew Reynolds, who is no longer a director at Bubs, in one email wrote that he was “happy to support the approval of these mandate terms”, while Steven Lin says in his email: “Strategically it makes sense for Bubs to do. In terms of fee engagement and scope, I defer to you all as you know market comparables better than I would.”
“I will have this executed tomorrow,” Dennis Lin responds.
According to sources close to
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