Linklaters and Latham & Watkins have landed the plum roles on the initial public offering (IPO) of greeting card retailer Card Factory, which valued the company at £766m.

The listing of 39% of the company raised around £90m for Card Factory when it priced last Thursday (15 May), with management and owners Charterhouse Capital Partners – which will retain a 41% stake – netting around £200m.

Card Factory plans to use the funds to pay down debt and expand to 1,200 stores in the next decade.

Linklaters advised both the company and fund manager Charterhouse, which held the majority of those shares sold.

Corporate partner Iain Wagstaff and managing associate Dan Lawrie took the lead on the deal.

Earlier this year, Wagstaff was part of a Linklaters team that advised HgCapital on the disposal and subsequent listing of Manx Telecom on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), the magic circle firm's first deal for the private equity house since the departure of key client relationship partner Richard Youle.

Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins corporate partner Richard Brown and counsel James Inness advised lead underwriters Morgan Stanley and UBS, as well as the junior banks Nomura and Investec. Latham's London-based corporate partner David Boles also advised on US law matters.

The deal is the latest in a series of major flotations on the London Stock Exchange in recent months, including those by AO.com, Boohoo.com, Poundland and Pets at Home.

"The market has been very buoyant to date, and there's a solid pipeline of opportunities in the second half of the year," said Inness. "A lot of law firms and banks will be exploring options for listings after the summer break, which inevitably brings a cooling-off period.

"I think certainly private equity buyers are still tempted to consider the dual track exit."