Following their offer announcement of 8 February 2019, DWF Group Limited has announced the successful pricing of the offer at 122 pence per Share.

Market cap £366m

Conditional dealings in the shares commenced on the London Stock Exchange at 8.00 am today. Admission is expected to become effective, and unconditional dealings in the Shares are expected to commence on the London Stock Exchange at 8.00 am on 15 March 2019. Based on the offer price, the market capitalisation of the Company topped approximately £366 million at the commencement of conditional dealings on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. Immediately following admission, it is expected that approximately 25.7 per cent of the Company's Shares will be held in public hands. DWF’s offering today makes it the only legal business listed on the premium segment of the main market of the London Stock Exchange, and the largest listed legal firm globally. The deal attracted strong interest from UK long-only investors and income funds, mid-cap specialists and selective interest from US-based investors. In relation to the offer and admission, DWF engaged Stifel Nicolaus Europe and Jefferies International to act as Joint Global Coordinators, and Zeus Capital to act as Lead Manager.

IT investment

The proceeds will be used to invest in operations and infrastructure including in additional IT systems and certain strategic initiative change programmes in support of its managed services work. Approximately £19 million will be used to repay a portion of Members' capital contribution to DWF LLP. Up to £10 million is to be invested in additional IT systems, including a portion of that to contribute to the development of the Group's global platform for managed services. The remainder will be used to fund general corporate purposes, including working capital and any future potential acquisitions. Andrew Leaitherland, CEO at DWF Group, said ‘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.’ Mr Leaitherland added, ‘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.’