European law firm Fieldfisher advised on £1.5 billion-worth of equity capital markets (ECM) deals across the London and Paris capital markets in 2018.
The majority of Fieldfisher’s ECM transactions were completed on AIM, the junior tier of the London Stock Exchange, for which the firm is consistently ranked as one of the top advisers to listed companies.
Fieldfisher advised on deals with a combined value £1.23 billion on AIM last year, equal to around 21% of all funds raised on London’s junior market in 2018.
Deal activity was led by natural resources transactions, with an aggregate deal value in excess of £882 million during the year, across mining (£492 million) and both conventional and renewable energy deals (£390 million).
The total deal value was largely accrued from fundraisings as well as a significant take-private deal, bond mandates and other forms of financing.
Business services was also a strong sector for the firm’s ECM practice, accounting for around £280 million of deal activity, driven largely by M&A among AIM-listed clients and a number of significant fundraisings.
These sectors were followed by tech, with deals totalling £199 million, and life sciences at £61 million.
The firm was also well represented on both the Regulated Market and the Growth Market of the Euronext Paris, particularly in the businesses services, tech and life sciences sectors, accounting for deal value of €223.5 million across all transactions in 2018.
Commenting on the Fieldfisher’s ECM deal figures, Neil Matthews, head of the firm’s ECM group, said:
“Fieldfisher’s robust ECM performance was achieved despite tough fundraising conditions on capital markets.
“There was a noticeable slowdown in UK deal-making towards the end of 2018, as uncertainty over Brexit forced delays in investment decisions.
“Natural resources, business services, technology and life sciences nevertheless proved especially resilient to the wider erosion of confidence in equities, particularly on London’s AIM market, which continues to provide a vital investment platform for early stage UK and international businesses.
“Our Paris team also had a very successful 2018, completing significant fundraisings for companies across both the Regulated and Growth markets of the Euronext Paris.
“Regardless of the outcome of Brexit, we expect to maintain our strong record in advising companies and their advisers on a range of pivotal ECM deals across the European capital markets in 2019.”
For a detailed summary of the firm's ECM work in 2018, please click here.
About Fieldfisher
Fieldfisher is a European law firm with market leading practices in many of the world's most dynamic sectors. We are an exciting, forward-thinking organisation with a particular focus on technology, financial services, energy & natural resources, life sciences and media.
Our growing European network of offices supports an international client base alongside our Silicon Valley and China colleagues. Among our clients we count social media sites and high street coffee chains as well as pharmaceutical, life sciences and medical devices companies, energy suppliers, banks and technology leaders.
Clients choose to work with us because we deliver commercial, pragmatic and innovative solutions through our exceptional legal expertise and experience, on time and on budget.
Our network has more than 1,450 people working across 24 offices providing highly commercial advice based on an in-depth understanding of our clients' needs.
We operate across our offices in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Beijing, Belfast, Birmingham, Bologna, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Paris, Rome, Shanghai, Turin, Venice and Silicon Valley.
Fieldfisher was named as a top 20 firm by FT Innovative Lawyers 2018.