Ashurst has advised the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) on an Offer of unsecured, subordinated notes (CommBank PERLS VIII Capital Notes), seeking to raise up to A$1.25 billion, net profits of which will be used to fund CBA's business.

The Offer, which includes a Broker Firm Offer, a Reinvestment Offer and a Securityholder Offer, will raise Tier 1 Capital to satisfy CBA's regulatory capital requirements and maintain the diversity of CBA's sources and types of funding. The net proceeds of the Offer will be used to fund CBA's business.

The issue of CommBank PERLS VIII Capital Notes under the Offer is expected to occur on 30 March 2016, with deferred settlement trading and normal settlement trading to occur on 31 March 2016 and 4 April 2016 respectively.

Under the Reinvestment Offer, Eligible PERLS III Holders will have the option to sell all or some of their PERLS III to CBA for A$200 per PERLS III on 30 March 2016 (the Reinvestment Date) and to automatically reinvest the sale proceeds in PERLS VIII.

The team at Ashurst was led by partner Sarah Dulhunty, who was assisted by senior associate Andrew Kim and lawyer Andrew Johnston.