Fieldfisher advised on £1.2 billion of ECM transactions in 2020

The firm's London and Paris equity capital markets teams collectively completed 74 transactions for clients last year, ranging from IPOs to RTOs, fundraisings to M&A deals.

 
For the second year in a row, Fieldfisher was the leading legal adviser by deal volume on AIM according to data compiled by Acuris (the publisher of MergerMarket and Dealreporter).

The firm’s 2020 ECM deal tally included 40 secondary issues, 21 M&A deals and four IPOs, acting for a consistently broad range of issuer clients and broker contacts across a variety of sectors and transaction sizes.

Despite an unpredictable year for many publicly quoted companies as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, capital markets activity remained robust in Fieldfisher’s core capital markets sectors of life sciences (17 transactions, valued at £370.4 million) and energy and natural resources (24 transactions, valued at £361.5 million).

Notwithstanding logistical barriers posed by lockdowns, the capital markets remained open and corporate fundraising continued to function smoothly.

This was marked by robust fundraising activity during lockdown periods as the market adapted to its new way of working, with the adoption of virtual roadshows and shareholder meetings.

Commenting on Fieldfisher’s ECM deal figures for 2020, Neil Matthews, Head of the firm’s Corporate group, said:

“In an uncertain year, the continued strength of our ECM practice – in the UK and Europe – testifies to the enduring quality of our advice, the depth of our expertise and the strength of our relationships.

“This year has undoubtedly been a difficult lone for many of our clients, but others have seized upon opportunities that have arisen from the pandemic.

“We, along with our broker clients, are fortunate to have a number of pioneering life sciences and healthcare businesses in our portfolios that have risen to the challenge of developing treatments at a time when public health is a top priority.

“We have also been encouraged by renewed confidence in the mining sector to complement our perpetually busy energy and natural resources practice.

“With Brexit behind us and a light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel, we hope to capitalise further on our standout ECM capabilities in 2021."

For a full breakdown of Fieldfisher's ECM deal activity 2020 and our analysis of key sectors, download a copy of our ECM Wrap 2020.