IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

The equity capital markets remain an area of great promise and optimism even as the realities of a difficult economic climate linger on.

IPOs are a perfect example of this. Everyone it seems is looking at opportunities and the desire to find success stories on the stock exchanges grows with every day that passes. However, this good will it seems is not enough to grow the market. Like a marathon runner collapsing before the line, many deals are still not reaching conclusion despite the efforts of the parties involved. "All the firms have been advising on deals that have gone some way down the line and then stopped," says one partner. "You look at the actual deals that have been completed and only about 25% have."

This has caused practitioners to look to the headlines for confidence. Such was the case with the well-publicised Glencore dual listing in London and Hong Kong. The figures were large, the name was good and for a brief period there was a feeling that this could be the confidence boost the market needed, as one partner says: "People thought Glencore would be the one to really open things up." However as interest and the price dropped it seemed to be the same old story.

In addition, the listing of Glencore, along with those of Samsonite and Prada seemed to be evidence that as a listing location Hong Kong was burning bright. However how wide ranging this interest is is hard to judge. "At the beginning of last year Hong Kong was the flavour of the month," says one practitioner, "although in terms of regulation it is not as flexible, being close to the Chinese and Asian markets is seen as a plus."

This geographical benefit and the view that the island is a great alternative to the pricing stagnation of Europe fuels optimism, but others point out that unless there is a clear case for expansion into Asian markets, as in the case of the luxury good sector, the benefits are nullified. "There was a sense for a while that people thought that they could just float the same business and get the same price," explains one partner. "People are now saying let's list over there if we have a connection or list over here (London) if we have a connection." The market's current high profile though should not be underestimated when considering market movement. "There's no doubt, the market is very lemming-like so a deal like that [Glencore] will lead to other companies thinking about whether there's an angle for them when looking at Hong Kong."

A clearer area of growth is Russia and the CEE (Central & Eastern Europe) region where work emanating from the natural resources sector is creating a clear pipeline of deals for those firms who can tap the market. "Russia is coming back, we have had a lot of work there, a lot of these deals are going get done," explains one partner.

In more general terms there is an obvious upturn in capital raising work as banks look towards their Basel III obligations, while private equity exits remain an area of activity for many, albeit at a lower level than people would have expected.

Freshfields' broad and deep coverage in the equity capital markets space ensures that it remains one of the pre-eminent operators in the City.

Drawing upon its broad corporate base the firm maintains a steady stream of issuer side work and can point to an impressive body of IPO mandates in the last year.

The team is spearheaded by the co-heads of the international capital markets group Stephen Revell and Sarah Murphy.

There was no shortage of positive client feedback for the team, with Simon Whitey drawing particular praise for his calm demeanour: "Exceptional, I really trust his judgement, he's very commercial and calm under pressure," says one, "he remains calm and he's got a lot of experience. That's where I feel really confident, I have worked with other people who weren't as up to date."

David Cotton also came in for praise for his judgement: "Freshfields has a great blend of technical excellence, commercial judgement and client service in its field. David understands the entire legislative process."

Energy and natural resources have kept the market's head above water this year and unsurprisingly Freshfields had work in this sphere within its portfolio. One such deal saw a team led by Julian Makin and Stephen Hughes act for the Vallar SPAC (Special Purchase Acquisition Company) on the placing of 202 million shares on the Official List of the Financial Services Authority and its listing on the LSE. Vallar was set up to acquire and bring together two of Indonesia's largest coal companies: Bumi Resources and Berau Cola Energy.

This deal followed the firm's successful work last year for Essar Energy when the team brought together a group of companies spun out of an Indian group to form a PLC. This had involved additional corporate restructuring and the drafting of inter-company arrangements and relationship agreements.

Beyond energy the firm also found themselves working on two major deals in the sports sector. In one the firm advised online betting operator the Betfair Group on its admission to the LSE with a market capitalisation of £1.4 billion. The deal was complicated by the nature of online betting regulation and the issues that may arise if the company becomes the subject of betting regulatory probes.

In a similar field, Mark Austin and Ben Spiers acted for the Perform Group, who market sports content, on its premium listing on the LSE, as with Betfair the team had to be mindful of online gaming issues.

The team's wide experience in transactions is an obvious positive for clients, but many also stressed how this attribute helped the firm keep fees competitive: "Freshfields are quite good at keeping costs down compared to similar firms because they are more used to handling those types of deals," says one client while another admits that though not cheap the fees were "justified, they do understand the pressure that we're under and have a long term view".

Outside the IPO space the team was also kept busy with various cashbox and book building mandates. Highlights included work on real estate investor Shaftesbury's £100 million cashbox transaction with the firm acting for Execution Noble and JPMorgan Securities as joint bookrunners. Stephen Revell led the Freshfields team on the deal which followed the firm's advice to Shaftesbury on its 2009 rights issue.

A final highlight saw a substantial team including Murphy, Jennifer Bethlehem, Don Guiney and Simon Revell act for Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Stifel Nicolaus on gold producer Centamin Egypt's $140 million accelerated bookbuilt cash placing.

The firm's hands on approach is also greatly appreciated: "The partner relationship is very important," says one client, "it's important to know they are not just figures in the background and that they like to get their fingers dirty, this is why we like Freshfields."

"Linklaters will continue to be strong, I see them as number one in this space," says one peer. There remains a consensus in the market that Linklaters sits alongside Freshfields as one of the clear leaders within the equity space.

This status is backed up by the firm's work on the largest IPOs and rights issues of the last 12 months.

The Glencore IPO drew a lot of attention last year, not just for its size – which admittedly was substantial at $60 billion - but also due to the fact that it was very much viewed as a bellwether for the success of future dual listing involving the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The deal itself saw a Links team comprising Charlie Jacobs, Patrick Sheil and David Avery-Gee advising the company on its primary LSE offering and secondary Hong Kong listing.

Staying in commodities, another substantial deal saw the team acting for Credit Suisse Securities as global co-ordinator and bookrunner, JPMorgan Securities as joint bookrunner and Evolution Securities and Liberum Capital as co-managers on the £687 million IPO of commodities acquisition company Vallar.

The two key attributes clients, highlights are the size and international scope of the team: "I probably know more associates at Linklaters, they have got a broader team," says one client. "Linklaters are even more commercial, they have got a broad international presence, it's a bit stronger and I have more contact."

Another bank side deal of note saw Charlie Jacobs lead a team acting for JPMorgan Cazenove and Deutsche Bank as the global co-ordinators of Indian corporate Essar Energy's £1.3 billion listing on the LSE. The firm can point to a clear track record in Indian listings having also advised mining company Vedanta on its 2003 listing.

The firm has had difficulties in the CEE (Central & Eastern Europe) region in the past few years, and clients did highlight this as a weakness: "They are the ones that are likely to slip out of the big four," says one. "Brilliant in Russia but not really in the rest of the CIS region."

However, the firm can still draw out some substantial mandates from the region. One deal which also demonstrates the recent rise to prominence of the Warsaw Stock Exchange saw Francis Kucera advise Eureko and Kappa as the selling shareholders on the €2.1 billion IPO of PZU, Poland's largest Insurance Company. As well as being the largest IPO ever on the Warsaw exchange, the deal was also the largest European Insurance company listing in five years, quite a coup for the exchange.

Where the firm is perceived to fall down though is in the amount of partner time clients get on deals, an issue raised on several occasions: "It's a lot less personal, you get a sense that the partners are working on a number of projects at the same time. From a relationship perspective it's not quite the same," says one, while another adds: "At Links the way they run transactions is quite siloed."

Capital raising has been a big feature of the market this year, with banks looking to shore up their tier one capital in light of the discussions around Basel III and again the quality and strength in depth of the Links team was demonstrated as it took a role on three of the largest mandates last year. One example saw Matthew Middleton advise the banks including JPMorgan Casenove, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, in their roles as bookrunners and co-lead managers of the £3.3 billion rights issue by Standard Chartered. The deal also included a private placement into the US and is notable also for the speed in which it was turned around with preparations completed in just two and half weeks.

The firm was also busy on the bank side on the £2 billion rights issue by Resolution. Co-heads of equity Jason Marketo and John Lane advised the Royal Bank of Canada Europe as sponsor and joint bookrunner and Barclays as joint bookrunner on the deal whose proceeds were used in part to finance the acquisition of Insurance company Axa's Uk Life Business.

Switching to the company side, the firm also acted for the National Grid on its £3.3 billion rights issue, including a US private placement. The London team was led by Roger Barron but also drew on partners from 10 other Linklaters offices around the globe.

Ashurst remain very highly thought of in the equity capital markets field despite the disruption that has affected other parts of the firm. Recent years have seen moves to increase its underwriter offering and the firm's evolution has been noted by peers: "Ashurst have transformed themselves in the last eight years," says one, "this year they have had some managerial issues, but they're still a very strong firm."

Another shift in focus has seen the firm looking towards the Scandinavian markets for potential growth and this resulted in department head Nicholas Holmes acting for Nomura, Morgan Stanley and SEB Enskilda on the Kingdom of Sweden's sale of its shares in Nordea Bank by way of an accelerated book building process.

The firm did experience disruption in terms of its US securities offering this year. In April 2011 partners Daniel Bushner, Eric Stuart and Marie Elena Angulo left the firm to join Jones Day, however the firm has to be applauded for its rapid response as it hired Linklaters partner Ray Fisher, head of the firm's New York capital markets offering, and former Links partner Jennifer Schneck a mere month later.

In terms of IPO work, it was another good year for Holmes who managed to rack up an impressive transaction list. Both he and Jeffrey Sultoon acted for Orile Securities and RBS Hoare Govett as global co-ordinators and bookrunners on NB Distressed Debt Investment Fund's $435 million offering. Holmes also acted for Citi and JPMorgan as sponsors and bookrunners on Lonmin's £160 million IPO.

Cleary Gottlieb is a perfect example of a typical US offering in London. A small team of elite lawyers concentrating on high-end work originating from specific areas of geographical strength.

In Cleary's case this strength is in Russia where the firm is a well-established player. With the continuing rise of work originating from the region, particularly in natural resources and energy, the firm finds itself in a strong position.

This was clearly demonstrated when Simon Ovendon and Raj Panasar acted for Aluminium producer Rusal on its Russian Depository Receipts Programme, the first example of such a programme in the country since legislation introduced the feature in 2006. The precedent setting nature of this deal was enough to win it the IFLR Equity Deal of the Year award.

The team at Cleary was boosted in October 2010 when partner David Gottlieb relocated to London from the firm's Moscow office. Picking up where he left off, both he and Ovenden took on further Russian work in February 2011 advising VTB Bank on its part privitisation programme, which involved placing a $3.3 billion 10% stake on the capital markets. The GDRs have been admitted to the LSE.

The flow of Russian work continued in April 2011 with Raj Panasar advising the Etalan Group on its $575 million IPO listed on the LSE.

Market opinion backed up the perception of a small but dynamic team: "Cleary's got a very solid team. You tend to see them on the underwriters side," says one peer.

Outside of Russia, Ovendon and Pierre-Marie Boury acted on the US and English law aspects of Alba and Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company's $339 million Reg S/144A IPO. The deal was the first international offering in Bahrain; thankfully closing in November 2010 before the disruption of the 'Arab Spring'.

The Herbert Smith equity team continues to push for a seat at the top table in the UK. Gaining parity with the top two still remains just slightly out of reach, but the team is gaining traction. "Herbert Smith I see on their way up," points out one partner.

Clients back this up, with many stating that they have recently passed more work onto the team: "I have done a lot more with Herbert Smith recently, the guys there are a bit more commercial," says one client. "They are just a little bit hungrier I suppose. Herbert Smith have offered to come into the office and talk about more issues. They are good at working on personal relationships and ensuring that contacts are met."

Clients were also impressed with the amount of partner time they received, particularly compared to the magic circle: "The partner availability is superior to a lot of law firms, they have great availability and a higher quality of service. That's probably the thing which makes them stand out for me, we're always looking for that relationship and the partner time," says one.

The firm did however suffer a setback in October when global head of capital markets Jim Wickenden along with fellow partner Adam Wells resigned from the firm. It is expected that the duo will join Allen & Overy.

The firm managed to take advantage of the wave of interest in dual-listings in Asia advising Credit Suisse on the Prudential listing in Hong Kong (primary) and Singapore (secondary).

Alongside Russia and the CEE (Central & Eastern Europe), work emanating from what has been described as the 'European fringe' continues to grow, no more so than in Turkey where last year a team led by Alex Bafi and Charles Howarth advised Bank of America Merrill Lynch on the Bizim Toptan Satı_ Ma_azaları $250 million IPO on the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

Outside of this the firm also handled plenty or work linked to the LSE, one of the most high profile being the Justice Holdings IPO in February 2011, which at £900 million was the largest London listing in the last two years. Acting for Barclays Capital and Citi on the deal were Chris Haynes, Adam Wells (who has since departed) and Martina Asmar.

Clients also appreciated the firm's calm approach in negotiations: "That's where their experience kicks in when they have to smooth the process," says one, "The ECM world is not an adversarial environment, so when lawyers go in and fight it out it can be annoying."

Another substantial deal for the team was the National Grid's £3.3 billion rights issue in May 2010, the largest ever offering by a utility in the UK. The mandate was born out of the firm's standing in the energy sector and was worked on by partners Chris Haynes and Alex Bafi.

The substantial issues in the Irish banking sector has produced work for firms in the UK and Herbert Smith took its share acting for the arrangers including Citi, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank on the €1.8 billion fund raising initiated by Bank of Ireland. This formed part of the banks plan to raise €3.8 billion following instruction from the Irish financial regulator.

"If you have Slaughter and May on the other side it's always a challenging time, they are a class act."

This sound bite from a competitor sums up how the firm is perceived in the market. Quality is never an issue and though competitors continue to raise the same questions regarding the firm's scope and slightly more generalist approach, such concerns can be countered by the strong issuer side mandates the firm continues to receive from its impressive corporate client base.

Clients had a similar view, with praise for the firm's overall quality and the amount of partner involvement: "They are very good at making you feel that you are being looked after," says one, "At other law firms you get a lot of associate involvement and that is very frustrating, that doesn't happen at Slaughter and May." Some pointed out though that there is such a thing as too much attention: "Sometimes the partners can create a log-jam because everything has to be checked by them," says another client, "but it isn't really a problem because you are paying for partner time and at least you know that everything will be in order."

However there were also calls for more realism at times on pricing: "They need a clearer awareness of how much they are charging people," says one, "just an awareness that the economy is not as resolute as it used to be. Clients are looking at things and saying 'that's a lot of money' but I think they have changed now."

Nilufer von Bismarck is one of the firm's stellar names and is commended by clients: "Innovative on rights issues, she positions herself as though she is a client, and marshals herself accordingly. Finds solutions before they arise," says one. "One of the most rounded partners I have worked with, strong technically, mix of corporate and commercial knowledge. Nilufer is a challenging lawyer, extremely open and quick to put her case." Last year she took on two large mandates from key client Standard Chartered. In the first the firm acted on the company's public issue and listing of Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs). The deal, as well as making Standard Chartered the first non-Indian company to get a primary listing in the country, also marked the first issue of IDRs. This new securities model allows Indian investors to hold an unrestricted stake in the listing company and could become a common tool.

Von Bismarck was also called in by the Standard to advise on a £3.2 billion rights issue the bank put in place in reaction to the increased reserve capital requirements anticipated in the final Basel III regulation. The deal also marked the first time a UK rights issue had included an online payment facility.

The firm also picked up roles on some of the year's other headline grabbing deals. John Papanichola and Robert Stern acted for Ocado on its £200 million IPO in July 2010. Working alongside US 'best friend' Davis Polk the firm acted on the offering, which was offered to company employees and institutional investors. At the time of listing the company had never made a profit, although it has since moved into the black.

Another highlight saw a team including von Bismarck, William Underhill, Robert Chaplin and Roland Turnill act for Prudential on its aborted $21 billion rights issue and $3 billion issue of convertible bonds. The deal was complicated by the company's April dual listing on the Hong Kong and Singapore stock exchanges, which meant that the rights issue had to comply with three different sets of regulatory requirements.

Along with 'best friend' firms Davis Polk and Uría Menéndez, the team also acted on a $2.8 billion 6.75% mandatory exchangeable bond issue for Santander.

In the capital markets sphere, Allen & Overy is better known for its debt and derivatives practice than equity. However, at a firm with the size and standing of Allen & Overy the mandates will still arrive and the equity team can still point to some notable mandates and clients which raises it higher than many in the market.

Clients were certainly impressed: "The partners tend to be pretty engaged and pretty front and centre. There is also a question of how much is too much but the key people at meetings are usually the partners," says one.

The equity team is led by Mark Dighero and last year he, alongside Louise Wolfson and Robert Williams acted for the joint sponsors including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Cazenove and UBS, the co-lead managers Jeffries, Lloyds TSB and Numis and the co-bookrunners Barclays and HSBC on the IPO of supermarket chain the Ocado Group. The deal was one of the most substantial in the market last year and raised £463 million.

Another major IPO was that of the Betfair Group. David Broadley and Robert Williams acted for the joint sponsors Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and co-lead managers Barclays and Numis. Raising over £210 million, the IPO further established the group as the largest online betting provider.

A lot of eyes have turned east this year, with great interest being generated by offerings placed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Allen & Overy last year found themselves advising on the IPO of the exchange itself. The exchange is seen as a hub for the CEE (Central & Eastern Europe) region and generated a substantial amount of interest from investors.

Outside of IPOs, the team also advised the bookrunners including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, Citi, Credit Suisse and EFG Hermes on the $800 million rights issue of Egyptian company Orascom Telecoms Holding.

The key contact at Clifford Chance on the equity side is Adrian Cartwright, the head of European equity capital markets and last year he led the team acting for Glencore on its headline grabbing IPO. The deal could prove key to Clifford's strategy going forward. While there is respect for the firm's team in the market, it has perhaps not been seen up till now as quite acting at the top table, with a stronger claim on debt side work. Now with a role on one of the year's largest deals there is a chance to enhance the firm's status and build up the practice further.

Outside and away from Glencore, one of the largest deals the team worked on was the IPO on the LSE of AZ Electronic Materials Group. The listing of the Luxembourg incorporated company is one of the largest private equity backed listings in the last few years.

In line with the market trend of Russian companies listing on the LSE, Cartwright and John Connolly also acted for the iron and coal producer the Koks Group on its $500 million IPO last year. Another Russian lister Nomos Bank also called in the firm to act on its London IPO. The listing raised $700 million.

Away from IPOs, the London team acted alongside the Frankfurt and Luxembourg offices on the €4 billion capital increase of Volkswagen. The deal, one of the largest ever done in Germany was done via an indirect rights issue and bookbuilding procedure.

Skadden's equity team is built on the strength of the US firm's corporate offering, but the firm manages to procure mandates on both the bank and company sides. The firm can also point to a specific strength in Russia, which has proved to be a boon with the current trend of Russian companies listing on the LSE.

Examples of the latter include advising Travelport, a Blackstone portfolio company, on its $1.8 billion IPO on the LSE. The team also acted for food retailer the O'Key Group on its $420 million IPO on the LSE and another food producer Ros Agro on its $330 million IPO again on the LSE.

The Russian strength is key for clients who made much of the firm's good synchronisation between its offices: "The quality of team is outstanding. A very good link between offices," says one and another agrees: "The quality of team is very good, it's very well synchronised."

On the bank side, one of the largest deals saw Rick Ely and James McDonald act for Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and TT Hellenic Postbank as underwriters on the National Bank of Greece's €1.8 billion capital raising. Pranav Trivedi meanwhile acted for Renaissance Securities and UBS Investment Bank as global co-ordinators on the $400 million Reg S IPO of Russian pharmaceutical company Protek.

Trivedi was certainly popular with clients: "Excellent. Very strong, competent, very good commercial judgement, very good client skill, very good under pressure," says one. "Very knowledgeable in business area. He has been doing it for 20 years." Another agrees: "Pranav is the the best capital markets dealmaker. Very knowledgeable, more so than most lawyers in the city. They are in my top three. Extremely focused on getting things done."

Another bank side mandate, again originating in Russia, saw the team act for Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Troika Dialog and TKB Capital as underwriters on the $400 million IPO of OJSC TransContainer, a container transportation and logistics company, on the LSE.

The London equity team at Sullivan & Cromwell is led by Vanessa Blackmore and US partner William Plapinger.

The team works more on the company side and examples include advising Pershing Square, a shareholder in Justice, on the latter's £900 million IPO on the LSE. The team also acted for the issuer Kenmare Resources on the mining company's $270 million rights issue.

On the underwriter side, Blackmore advised Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Securities, Morgan Stanley, VTB Capital and Pacific Crest Securities on what was at the times Europe's largest IPO of an internet business, that of Mail.ru. The deal was more than 20 times oversubscribed.

Naturally the team has also acted on a number of US law governed deals including advice to Standard Chartered on its $5.4 billion rights issue. Acting on that was practice co-head John O'Connor and he also advised Enel Green Power on its €2.6 billion IPO.

Led by Edward Bibko, Baker & McKenzie expanded its team this year with the hire of Adam Farlow from Allen & Overy in August 2010.

The firm's wide network is one of its key attributes and one client who worked with Bibko was suitably impressed: "Very experienced in equity capital markets law relating to clients from Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) and the CIS. Their knowledge and understanding of these jurisdictions is very strong. Also the depth of knowledge and understanding of emerging markets issuers is very strong."

Another client was impressed with the synchronicity the firm achieved between its offices: "I worked with the firm's offices in Russia, Kazakhstan and Poland. High quality team, they have a deeper understanding of the legal framework on the local level. Well synchronised but potential for improvement."

The largest deal worked on last year saw a team of lawyers from the firm's Amsterdam, London, Prague and Warsaw offices acting on the €220 million IPO of the Fortuna Entertainment Group. This deal was a dual listing on the Prague and Warsaw stock exchanges. Tim Sheddick also had a busy time acting on an offering of new shares by the Management Consulting Group and Fiberweb on its £23.9 million rights issue.

The key figure at Macfarlanes is Robert Boyle who leads the department and had a hand in all the firm's major work last year. The firm generally acts on the company side in most transactions with deals born from its broad corporate client base.

One of the largest deals the team worked on was the £700 million IPO of Vallar on the LSE in July 2010. The investment company has interests in the mining sector.

Boyle was also active as the team acted for LXB Retail Properties on a £40 million share placement and e2v Technologies on its share placement and £45 million rights issue in January 2011.

One notable bank side deal saw the team act for JPMorgan Securities on the rights issue and warrants placing of the Imperial Innovations Group.

Simmons & Simmons's capacity was hit in January 2011 when US securities partner Daniel Winterfeldt left the firm to make the move to CMS Cameron McKenna. However, the firm did respond by hiring Julian Perlmutter from Clifford Chance.

The firm is largely known for its strong funds practice and this does have a tendency to over shadow the capital markets offering. However the team finds itself on a decent number of mandates and can leverage off its funds capability.

Head of the international capital markets team is Chris Horton and he worked on a number of deals for key client JPMorgan Cazenove last year. One example saw Horton act for the client alongside Evolution Securities as joint bookrunners, lead managers and sponsors on the £200 million IPO of Prime on the LSE. On a similar deal the team again acted for the bank this time alongside Panmure Gordon on the £88 million rights issue by the RPC Group.

In another notable IPO deal Horton acted alongside Steven Whittaker for RBS Hoare Govett on the £75 million IPO of CQS Diversified Fund on the LSE.

Weil Gotshal & Manges as a firm has been building up its London operations in the last year. Reinforcements have come across a number of practice areas with equity capital markets no exception. In May 2010 David Meredith was brought across from Hong Kong to increase partner numbers.

In June 2010 the team acted for Chr Hansen Holding on its €1.67 billion placing on the Nasdaq Copenhagen. The deal consisted of both a domestic and an international placing under Rule 144A. The offering proved to be the largest in Denmark since 2005.

The firm has a strong presence in Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland where the team acted on a number of notable IPOs involving the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE). In one the team acted for the banks and the Polish underwriters on the offering of the exchange itself, a deal that formed part of the Polish government's wider privatisation programme. This saw the government selling its 64% stake. In the second the team again acted on the bank side advising alongside Warsaw and New York based teams on the debut on the Warsaw stock exchange of insurer PZU. This was the largest ever IPO in the CEE (Central & Eastern Europe) region with a value of €8 billion.

A third deal saw the team act for the underwriters again including UniCredit, UBS, ING and Merrill Lynch on the €1 billion IPO of Tauron Polska. This again formed part of the country's wider privatisation plans and was the second largest IPO on the WSE in 2010.