Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Allen & Overy and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have all picked up work advising card payment services provider Worldpay Group as it sells shares on the London stock exchange.
Worldpay’s owners Advent International and Bain Capital opted for an initial public offering (IPO) over a bid from its French rival Ingenico.
The private-equity owners aim to raise around £890m in an offering which Worldpay will use to reduce debt. The company’s publicly traded shares are expected to be at least 25% of outstanding stock.
The float could value the payments processing company at more than £6bn in what is expected to be one of the largest London IPOs this year.
Weil advised Advent International and Bain Capital, led by London partner Marco Compagnoni with Peter King leading on the IPO. Other members of the Weil team included corporate partners Samantha McGonigle and Simon Lyell.
The firm advised longstanding clients Advent International and Bain Capital on their original investment in Worldpay in 2010, and on a number of bolt-on acquisitions since then. The team also represented both private equity houses on the acquisition of RBS’s remaining stake in Worldpay.
A&O advised Worldpay on its prospective IPO and its admission to float, with a team led by corporate partner Duncan Bellamy alongside corporate partner David Broadley, and US securities partner Jeff Hendrickson.
Freshfields advised underwriter Goldman Sachs with capital markets partner Mark Austin leading.
Worldpay’s admission to the London Stock Exchange is expected to take place in October 2015.
jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk
