White & Case is in line for a bumper pay-day after it emerged that client Visa is to shell out $15m (£7.45m) in legal fees and expenses for its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO), writes The American Lawyer.

Visa disclosed details of its legal fees in an amended registration statement filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) last week ahead of this month's IPO, which the company says could net a US record $18.8bn (£9.33bn) in stock sales.

White & Case is lead outside counsel to Visa, with New York partners Mark Mandel (capital markets) and Ward Atterbury (corporate) leading the team. White & Case had previously advised the company on its global restructuring ahead of the IPO.

Visa is paying more than four times the legal fees paid by rival MasterCard on its $2.39bn (£1.19bn) IPO in 2006. MasterCard, represented by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, paid $3.5m (£1.74m) in counsel fees and expenses.

However, private equity giant Blackstone paid $15m for advice on its $4.13bn (£2.05bn) IPO last year, according to SEC filings, with Simpson Thacher again the lead adviser.

Latham & Watkins advised Visa on its US litigation liabilities, while Davis Polk & Wardwell acted for the underwriters, including JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.

Meanwhile, the SEC filings show that KPMG, Visa's accountant, is in line for fees worth $13m (£6.45m).

The American Lawyer is a US sister title of Legal Week.

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