Flotation will value Manchester law firm at £366m

Andrew Leaitherland

Manchester law firm DWF has this morning announced the offer price of its upcoming flotation which values the business at approximately £366m.

It will raise £75m for the company while existing shareholders will earn £20.2m with nearly 26% of the company being owned by investors. The firm’s 300m shares will be priced at 122p per share.

It makes it the biggest flotation of any legal practice. The move comes just eight months after law firm Knights set a new record. The firm was valued at £103.5m and the flotation netted a £20m fortune for its founders and management team.

It makes it the biggest flotation of any legal practice. The move comes just eight months after law firm Knights set a new record. The firm was valued at £103.5m and the flotation netted a £20m fortune for its founders and management team.

DWF chief executive Andrew Leaitherland said: “We are delighted today to be announcing our successful IPO as DWF becomes the first main market premium listed legal business.

“DWF and its partner group see this as the start of the next phase of DWF’s evolution and we are very pleased by the support shown by our new investors.

“We see substantial, long-term opportunity, to build on our strong track record and further develop and grow our complex, managed and connected services capabilities, while attracting and retaining the best talent, investing in technology and carrying out targeted M&A.

“This, coupled with our differentiating features including international reach and scale, our innovative business model and the range of services we provide to our clients, positions us to take advantage of the expanding global legal services market.”

The offer will comprise 61,475,410 new shares to be issued by the company and 16,577,304 existing shares to be sold by the selling shareholders, equating to an offer size of £95,224,311 and representing 26% of the company’s issued share capital on admission.

Immediately following admission to the Stock Exchange, the company’s issued share capital will comprise 300,000,000 shares.

Immediately following admission, it is expected that approximately 25.7% of the company’s Shares will be held in public hands.

The group intends to use the net proceeds of the offer as follows: Approximately £19m to repay a portion of members’ capital contribution to DWF; up to £10m to invest in additional IT systems, including a portion of that to contribute to the development of the group’s global platform for managed services; and the remainder will be used to fund general corporate purposes, including working capital and any future potential acquisitions.

In relation to the offer and admission, the company has engaged Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited and Jefferies International Limited to act as joint global coordinators and Zeus Capital Ltd – and together with Stifel and Jefferies, the banks – to act as lead manager.

DWF announced its intention to float on February 8.

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