Bakers advises Bank of Georgia on LSE listing

Baker & McKenzie's London office has acted for the first Georgian company to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Bakers advised the Bank of Georgia on its $139m (£72m) listing, which involved a combination of issuing 6.6 million new shares and the sale of 1.1 million existing shares in the form of 7.7 million global depository receipts.

The listing marks a continued rise in the number of both Russian and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) companies looking to list on the London bourses.

In a sign the City is welcoming more CIS listings, the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, was invited to open the LSE on Wednesday, the first day of trading for the company.

Clifford Chance advised the lead manager and sole book runner ING, and the depository bank, the Bank of New York.

Bakers' London-based corporate partner Carter Brod led the advice on the IPO, along with international securities partner Peter Magyar.

Brod said: "While this is the first international offering by a Georgian company, we're not necessarily expecting a flow from that country. But certainly the Ukraine and Kazakhstan remain highly active.''Clifford Chance finance partner Adrian Cartwright led the advice to ING.

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