Clifford Chance and Latham have picked up key roles on the largest listing of a European company in the UK since 2017.
CC has advised Greek energy and metals company Metlen Energy & Metals on its £6bn London Stock Exchange debut, which is the largest primary listing in London so far this year.
The company, which operates in over 40 countries, redomiciled to the UK, with the transaction including a primary placement on the LSE and a secondary listing on the Athens Stock Exchange.
CC’s team was led by London capital markets head Simon Thomas, supported by a team including senior associate James Koessler and associates Radhika Sharma and Inês Teixeira.
Other CC partners involved in the deal include employment partner Amy Bird, restructuring partner Timothy Lees, tax partner Nicola Hemsley and litigators Michael Lyons and George Kleinfeld.
Latham picked up the international legal adviser role for the joint UK financial advisers and sponsors, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Global Markets. The US firm fielded a team led by London corporate partners James Inness and Anna Ngo, and counsel Koushik Prasad.
Metlen expects to be admitted to the FTSE 100 as early as September 2025, with its market capitalisation currently standing at around €6.7bn (£6bn ). If this happens, it will become the first company in over a year to directly enter the index through a primary listing.
Metlen’s shares will continue to be denominated in euros, making it one of the first companies to use new rules that allow non-sterling shares to be included in the FTSE UK indices.
Commenting on the transaction, CC’s Thomas said: ‘This is a hugely important transaction for the London market, being the largest listing of a European business in London since 2017. In addition, Metlen will become the first company to enter FTSE’s UK indices with shares denominated in Euros, signalling the continued attractiveness of the UK for global companies to list.’
Late last month Legal Business reported that ECM partners were backing London for an IPO rebound, despite activity levels falling to a 30-year low over the first half of this year.
