Gateley has set 8 June as its expected admission date onto the AIM listing, giving it little over a week left to garner interest in what will be the first UK law firm to carry out an initial public offering (IPO).
With an issue price of 95p, the firm is in the process of drumming up interest from potential shareholders though it did not confirm the number of shares it is looking to sell. In recent days, Gateley chief executive Michael Ward, has been undertaking a roadshow of institutional investors and fielding questions over the firm’s listing.
In its initial filling on 12 May, Gateley said that moving from an LLP to a PLC would allow for faster expansion and diversification and give it a ‘first mover advantage’. It plans on using its alternative business structure (ABS) to acquire complementary business services, such as professional training and regulatory advice, providing it with an opportunity for cross selling to existing clients as well as broadening its appeal.
Other areas of growth identified were developing Gateley’s relationships with house builders, gaining more instructions from the Pension Protection Fund, growing corporate teams in Yorkshire and the North West, improving its project litigation offering and building its representation on bank panels.
The firm also plans to use the IPO to create a more flexible career structure, aligning its shares with employee goals in a bid to maintain staff retention. The firm’s current partners, who are selling the shares, will all move to become salaried employees but will retain 50.1% of the firm’s share capital in aggregate. They have also all undertaken not to dispose of any shares for the first year while more senior partners are facing a five-year lock in with claw-back provisions for cash received and retained shares.
michael.west@legalease.co.uk
