US heavyweight Davis Polk & Wardwell, Dutch firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and Magic Circle firm Linklaters have all scored roles advising on the €1bn Dutch IPO of Grand Vision, the world’s biggest opticians and owner of Vision Express.
The IPO consists of a secondary offering of up to approximately 23% of GrandVision’s issued ordinary shares by founding shareholder and Caribbean-based HAL, which plans to trade on Euronext in Amsterdam next Friday (6 February). Set to be valued at between €4.4bn and €5.4bn, GrandVision said the indicative price range for shares will be between €17.50 and €21.50.
De Brauw Amsterdam-based corporate partner Joost Schutte is acting as lead counsel to Hal and Grand Vision on Dutch law, while Davis Polk is advising Hal on US and UK law with a team led by London corporate partner John Banes.
Linklaters provided US, UK, and Dutch legal counsel to the underwriters including ABN Amro and JP Morgan, which are acting as joint co-ordinators on the deal, with US qualified London-based capital markets partner Jason Manketo leading the team.
GrandVision, which achieved revenue of €2.6bn in 2013, operates over 5,600 stores in 43 countries throughout Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia.
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
