Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises on the IPO of Network International – the largest London IPO this year, largest London tech IPO since 2015 and largest Middle East and Africa (MEA) IPO globally since 2014

The Clifford Chance Equity Capital Markets team advised a syndicate of banks, consisting of Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Cazenove, Morgan Stanley, ENBD Capital, Barclays, Goldman Sachs and Liberum on UAE-based payment solutions company Network International's initial public offering and admission to the premium segment of the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities.

The IPO consisted of a secondary sale of shares by selling shareholders, Emirates NBD Bank PJSC and the WP/GA Dubai IV fund, a joint venture between Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic, who raised around £1.2 billion (following the exercise of the over-allotment option), valuing Network International at around £2.2 billion.

Network International's IPO is the largest ever Middle East and Africa (MEA) technology IPO listed on any exchange globally, and the largest technology IPO listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2015. It is also the largest MEA IPO listed on the London Stock Exchange, across all sectors, and the largest MEA IPO listed on any exchange globally since 2014.

This landmark deal continues the Clifford Chance Equity Capital Markets team's recent deal run advising on first-of-their-kind deals, including the recent 2019 IPO of DWF Group, the first law firm IPO on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

The Clifford Chance team was led by partners Iain Hunter (Equity Capital Markets), Alex Bafi (US securities) and Mike Taylor (UAE law), supported by James Koessler in London, Olivier Plessis and Ryan Bosch in Paris, Zahra Shahab in Dubai and colleagues across the firm.