Herbert Smith Freehills and Simmons & Simmons have landed roles on British online retailer AO World's £1.2bn flotation.

The domestic appliance retailer breached the billion pound mark when it ebuted on the London Stock Exchange yesterday (26 February) after shares jumped by more than 40% on its offer price.

Herbert Smith Freehills is acting for the issuer on the transaction, fielding corporate partners Chris Haynes and Mike Flockhart.

Manchester-based boutique Atticus Legal, a longstanding adviser to AO, is also providing counsel on the initial public offering (IPO).

Jeffries and JP Morgan Cazenove are the joint global co-ordinators and bookrunners on the deal, while Numis is also a bookrunner.

Simmons is advising the underwriters, following a competitive tender process. The Simmons team is led by London corporate partner Colin Bole and includes US securities partner Julian Perlmutter, equity capital markets head Chris Horton, tax partner Nick Cronkshaw, employment partner Andrea Finn and employee benefits partner Ian Fraser.

Bole said: "It's fair to say that the UK IPO market is buoyant at the moment. A lot of companies and their shareholders have been preparing to IPO for a while. It remains to be seen how long the current IPO window will remain open, but at the moment all the planets are aligned."

The news comes as AO rival and electricals giant Dixons has confirmed it is in merger talks with Carphone Warehouse. Linklaters has scored the leading role advising Dixons on the discussions.