Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have taken lead roles on the global private placement of shares in German chemicals company Evonik ahead of its multibillion-euro initial public offering (IPO) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Evonik – a cosmetics and food manufacturer – has seen around 12% of its shares placed with institutional investors since 22 February, in what is thought to be Germany's largest-ever pre-IPO capital markets financing.

The move comes ahead of Evonik's planned float, which is reportedly set to value the company at around €14bn (£12bn).

The company is owned by CVC Capital Partners and RAG-Stiftung, both of which have sold stakes to investors including state-owned Singapore investment company Temasek, which took a 4.6% share. 

Evonik's main shareholder CVC was advised by Freshfields, with corporate partner Oliver von Rosenberg, corporate finance partner Rick van Aerssen and associate Martin Kleppe making up the team.

Meanwhile, Skadden – led by Frankfurt corporate finance partner Stephan Hutter alongside corporate finance partner Katja Kaulamo (pictured) and tax partner Johannes Frey – acted as designated investors' counsel to a group of more than two dozen institutional investors.

"The company tried to go public three times before and failed each time, but this time around it pushed very hard to get a listing done; the challenge was to find a structure that would eliminate the risks," said Hutter.

"This type of deal has never been done before in Germany, where global shareholders have been brought in in this way. A couple of years ago people wouldn't have thought investors would be taking this sort of role, taking a stake in non-public companies."