Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Dechert are among a raft of advisers to pick up roles on the €386m (£340m) initial public offering (IPO) of German industrial parts maker Norma Group on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Freshfields and Dechert jointly advised the issuer – a portfolio company of private equity house 3i – with teams led by Frankfurt capital markets partner Andreas Koenig and Munich corporate partner Berthold Hummel respectively.

Freshfields Frankfurt private equity head Andreas von Werder also advised 3i alongside Koenig. 3i's legal work was co-ordinated by London-based in-house counsel Andrew Wallace.

Clifford Chance advised Norma on refinancing matters with a team under Frankfurt corporate partner Alexandra Hageluken. Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs were appointed as joint global coordinators and joint book-runners, instructing Linklaters as lead counsel. Linklaters fielded a team under Frankfurt capital markets partner Herbert Harrer.

The float, one of the largest German IPOs of recent years, consisted of seven million new shares and nine million shares from existing shareholders. The deal included a provision to sell another 2.4 million shares under a 'greenshoe' option, which gives the issuer the right to sell more equity in the event of strong investor demand.

Bird & Bird also secured a role advising one of Norma's shareholders, a Swedish investment company, with the firm fielding a team under Stockholm-based tax chief Christian Luthman.

Dechert's Hummel commented: "Our relationship with Norma stretches back several years beginning with the leveraged buy-out of Rasmussen/Norma Group by 3i in 2006, and we are proud to have advised Norma over the years on its international expansion efforts to become one of the prominent market leaders it is today."

The deal comes as many private equity houses are hoping to build on a revival in M&A activity last year to return to active dealmaking, with a queue of buyout houses hoping to exit their investments through the public markets in 2011.