Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises banks on Glencore's record USD 60bn IPO

International law firm Clifford Chance is advising the syndicate of banks acting as underwriters on the planned IPO of Glencore International, the commodities trader. The IPO is likely to be the largest ever in UK history and the largest in Europe of a non-state owned entity.

The offering is also precedent-setting by being, in effect, the first dual London and Hong Kong admission on IPO. The issue will see Glencore sell up to a 20% stake in the business raising approximately USD 9-11bn and is expected to value the group at in excess of USD 60bn. Clifford Chance is advising Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Credit Suisse as joint global co-ordinators as well as the rest of the underwriting syndicate of banks.

Adrian Cartwright, Head of European ECM at Clifford Chance, comments: "We are delighted to be working on the largest IPO of recent times. It is a testament to the strength of Clifford Chance's international equity capital markets practice, both in London and Hong Kong, that we have been chosen to provide legal advice for this transaction."

The transaction follows the announcement of CC's recent role advising the banks on Prada's plans to float on the Hong Kong stock exchange, and also recognises the Firm's reputation in the mining sector built in part working alongside Glencore on some of its most significant transactions.

David Lewis, co-head of Clifford Chance's mining and metals group said "It's fantastic to see the Firm's sector focus approach endorsed in this way - a detailed understanding of the industry was a pre-requisite to be part of this deal".

Contacts Adrian Cartwright (lead partner);corporate: David Lewis (partner), Amy Lo (partner) Hong Kong; US securities: John Connolly (partner). They were assisted by a large team of associates including Inigo Esteve in London and Virginia Lee in Hong Kong.