Weil and Linklaters advise on PGNiG IPO

Weil Gotshal & Manges and Linklaters' Warsaw office are celebrating after advising Polish energy company PGNiG on a successful IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Weil advised new client PGNiG on its £470m float, while Linklaters advised longstanding client HSBC as the company's financial adviser.

PGNiG was the 27th and most successful IPO in Poland this year, and the third highest by value in the history of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Weil secured the work - its seventh Polish IPO of 2005 - through management links between PGNiG and PKN, Poland's largest oil refinery and gas station, which was floated with advice from Weil in 1999. The US firm was also involved in last November's £1.2bn float of Poland's largest bank, PKO.

Capital markets partner Anna Frankowska, who led the Weil team, said the IPO threw up some unique challenges for her team, with the new EU Prospectus Directive coming into force midway through the negotiations. The issue was eased by registering with the Polish Securities and Exchange Commission early and bringing forward the prospectus printing to take advantage of a transitional grace period.

"We had to print supplements to conform to parts of the new regulations, but thankfully we didn't have to rewrite the whole prospectus," Frankowska said.

The Linklaters team was led by capital markets head Nick Eastwell.