Ashurst has tied up its first deal for Jordanian pharmaceutical company Hikma Pharmaceuticals advising the company on its £483m IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

The firm worked alongside Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which acted for regular client Merrill Lynch as global coordinator and lead manager on the deal.

Hikma raised around £148.8m through its global offering, giving it a market capitalisation of £483m at listing. It meant the company entered the FTSE 250 and became the first company from Jordan to pursue a primary listing on the main London market.

Ashurst was appointed after a pitch in March this year and started work on the IPO the following month. US corporate partner Daniel Bushner, who led the deal, said the transaction drew on the firm's healthcare experience.

"We have acted on a number of big healthcare equity offerings in the last year including Ark Therapeutics and Inion and this helps us maintain our position in that market. I would also hope that we continue to represent the company going forward."

Bushner was assisted by corporate partner Philip Broke and senior corporate assistants Kate Edey and Marie Elena Angulo. The team is also working with colleagues in the firm's Dubai office advising Hikma on its planned secondary listing on the new Dubai International Financial Exchange. Hikma is likely to be the first company to obtain a secondary listing on the new exchange.

US securities partner Sarah Murphy led the Freshfields team advising Merrill. She worked alongside fellow partners Tim Jones (corporate) and Avril Martindale (intellectual property). Associates Leila Bham, David Cotton and Jonathan Ball also advised.

Murphy commented: "This was an interesting deal because it is a company that grew out of the Middle East."

She added: "It could lead to other Middle Eastern companies realising that listing here is an option that is open to them."