Allen & Overy (A&O) has advised on its fourth initial public offering (IPO) in a month, working alongside Weil Gotshal & Manges on the intended listing of service provider Equiniti.
From September, the magic circle firm has won mandates on the IPOs of new client Ibstock, insurer Hastings and payment processor Worldpay. In each instruction it advised both companies and the banks.
While A&O partners James Roe and Jeff Hendrickson, along with counsel Michael Bloch, represented Equiniti’s underwriters, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Liberum Capital, Weil Gotshal & Manges worked with the company itself and its owner Advent International.
The US firm’s team was led by corporate partner Peter King, with partner Tom Richards providing banking advice. Counsel Oliver Walker and Ivor Gwilliams also assisted on tax and employment matters respectively.
The firm additionally acted alongside Equiniti’s in-house legal team consisting of Rajinder Sehmar and Elizabeth Adams.
Equiniti provides finance and administration services to around 70 per cent of the FTSE 100. It wants to broaden the amount of services it provides to clients, which include employee share plans, pension schemes support and personal investments.
Equiniti intends raise £390m and to start trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in October 2015.
Background to the deal
Weil Gotshal advised Advent International when it initially purchased Equiniti back in 2007.
It has continued to work with the private equity house, most recently working alongside A&O on WorldPay’s intention to float, which was bought by Advent and Bain Capital in 2010.
DFS, which was also bought by Advent in 2010, listed on the LSE at the beginning of the year with Weil Gotshal yet again winning the mandate.
