DWF valued at £366m ahead of flotation

Global legal firm DWF has been valued at around £366 ahead of its initial public offering this week.

DWF Group Ltd today announced the successful pricing of its offer at 122p per share, giving a market capitalisation of approximately £366m at the commencement of conditional dealings on the London Stock Exchange. Conditional dealings opened today, with admission expected to become effective, and unconditional dealings to commence, on Friday 15 March. 

The offer comprises 61,475,410 new shares to be issued by the company and 16,577,304 existing shares to be sold by the selling members of DWF LLP, equating to an offer size of £95,224,311 and representing 26.0% of the company’s issued share capital on admission. Immediately following admission, the company's issued share capital will comprise 300,000,000 shares.

Members of DWF LLP who are selling shareholders are expected to hold a majority of the shares after admission. These will be subject to lockup arrangements with the banks, and also subject to a lockup with DWF Group which will expire on the announcement of the financial results for the financial year ending 30 April 2024, with release in stages until then.

Chief executive Andrew Leaitherland commented: “We are delighted today to be announcing our successful IPO as DWF becomes the first Main Market premium listed legal business. DWF and its partner group see this as the start of the next phase of DWF’s evolution and we are very pleased by the support shown by our new investors. We see substantial, long-term opportunity, to build on our strong track record and further develop and grow our complex, managed and connected services capabilities, while attracting and retaining the best talent, investing in technology and carrying out targeted M&A.

“This, coupled with our differentiating features including international reach and scale, our innovative business model and the range of services we provide to our clients, positions us to take advantage of the expanding global legal services market. I would also like to thank our dedicated and hardworking employees, who have been central to our success. The IPO is only the start and I am confident in DWF’s strong fundamentals and continued growth prospects as a listed company.”