Soaring share price sees Gateley staff cash in £11m

Some of Gateley’s senior staff have taken advantage of the high share price to cash in £11.4m.

Institutional investors bought 5.2m shares in the professional services group. The sale represents 4.2% of the group and increases the free float of Gateley’s stock.

Gateley chief executive Rod Waldie welcomed the sale for “once again broadening our investor base welcoming new shareholders to the register”.

He said: “The placing is consistent with the board’s commitment to allow and incentivise our directors and employees to realise part of the value they have helped to create in an orderly fashion.”

The shares were bought at 220p, which is below last night’s closing price of 237p and the level it has been trading at for the last six weeks.

Gateley’s share price has performed extremely strongly in the last year, doubling in value from its October 2020 low of 118p.

It has also been trading well, continuing the momentum of 10% growth in its pre-tax profits and revenues in the year to April.

Gateley floated on the Alternative Investment Market in 2015, becoming the first law firm to go public.

At that point 70% of the company was held by Gateley partners, who agreed five-year lock-ins which permitted them to dispose of up to 10% of their shares in any 12-month period.

The latest sale means Gateley partners have raised more than £38m since going public and reduced the total stake held by them to 43.8%.