CMS is acting as the sole legal advisor for the Warsaw Stock Exchange debut of developer i2 Development, planned for the second half of May. CMS’ Capital Markets team was also one of the legal advisors at the initial public offering of Dom Maklerski X-Trade Brokers S.A., which debuted on the WSE on 6 May this year.

After a strong final quarter of last year, when CMS advised on the IPOs of companies such as InPost, Wittchen and Enter Air, CMS’ Capital Markets Team is one of the most sought-after legal advisors for public offerings in Poland.

Michal Pawlowski, partner and Head of the Capital Markets Team, said: “The success of recent public offerings will hopefully result in more activity on the Polish capital market. The success of the two tenders that we advised on is a good signal for the coming months. It is also the best proof that companies with high potential and consistently implemented business strategies can count on investor confidence and successful development through the stock exchange.”

The total value of the IPO of i2 Development is expected to reach PLN 34m. 1.7 million shares will be allocated to investors at a final price of PLN 20 each. In turn, the value of the debut of X-Trade Brokers amounted to PLN 188.6m, with 1.6 million shares offered to individual investors and 14.8 million to institutional investors.

“The growing interest of businesses and private equity funds in the so-called dual-track, i.e. simultaneous M&A and IPO, is of great importance for the Warsaw Stock Exchange,” adds Rafal Wozniak, counsel in the Capital Markets Team.

The team’s increasing significance is recognised through its listing in this year's prestigious Legal 500 rankings in Poland. The Legal 500 has ranked the capital markets practice for the first time this year, immediately being placed in Tier 2. The members of the team were also recommended for their work on capital markets, as well as in other fields, in recent rankings by Chambers Global and Chambers Europe. The Capital Markets Team that joined CMS in autumn 2015, has strengthened CMS in the area of IPOs, bond issues and withdrawals of companies from stock exchange trading.

The CMS team, composed of Michal Pawlowski, partner and head of the team, Dr Rafal Wozniak, counsel, and Magdalena Trzepizur, an associate specialising in capital markets law, worked on both debuts.

CMS lawyers from the Czech Republic (Helen Rodwell, partner), Turkey (Alican Babalioglu, partner), Spain (Luis Miguel De Dios, partner) and Portugal (Francisco Almeida, partner) were also involved in the XTB transaction.

Lawyer(s)

Michal Pawlowski, Rafal Wozniak