Gateley, a UK national commercial law firm, will launch an IPO this year, becoming the first law firm in the country to list shares. The IPO is expected to value the company at £140 mn ($220 mn), according to an announcement from the company.
All 81 partners will become salaried employees of the firm and will own a combined total of 50.1 percent of the shares after the IPO, the firm says in a press release. The partners have agreed not to sell any of their shares for at least 12 months after the offering.
The company says it will use the proceeds of as much as £10 mn to pursue acquisitions of legal teams offering niche services and firms that offer alternative business services, as well as seek organic growth by adding services such as regulatory advice and compliance training.
Gateley, which will list on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market, will become the first traded law firm in the UK, taking advantage of the UK’s Legal Services Act 2011, which allows external investment in law firms. Cantor Fitzgerald Europe will act as financial adviser to the IPO.
‘We believe the catalysts for value creation are now to acquire, incentivize, differentiate and – where sensible – diversify,’ Gateley CEO Michael Ward says in the press release. ‘These opportunities for growth will undoubtedly be most accessible as a PLC and we want to be the first to be able to take advantage of them.’
Birmingham-based Gateley has more than 340 solicitors and employs more than 600 people in its offices in London, Manchester and three other UK cities, as well as in Dubai. It serves more than 4,000 corporate and 1,500 private clients, the company says. Gateley also has an affiliated company with three offices in Scotland that will not be part of the IPO.
