Magic circle duo act as Funding Circle prepares for £300m IPO
Small business lender looks to raise £300m after it nearly doubled revenues over two years.
September 03, 2018 at 07:29 AM
2 minute read
Magic circle firms Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters are advising on peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle's initial public offering (IPO), as it looks to float 25% of its shares on the London Stock Exchange to raise £300m.
Freshfields capital markets partners Mark Austin and Doug Smith are advising the small-business loans platform on the float.
Investment banks Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and bookrunner Numis Securities – which are acting as global co-ordinators on the offer – are being advised by a Linklaters team headed up by corporate partner John Lane and capital markets partner Pam Shores.
Founded in 2010, Funding Circle provides loans to small businesses in the UK, but also operates in Germany, the Netherlands and the US. The company says that, so far, 39,000 businesses have used its platform to borrow across 55,000 loans.
Its clients include about 75,000 individuals, the government-owned British Business Bank, local councils, and financial institutions including the European Investment Bank.
Last year, the company generated revenues of £94.5m – nearly double the £50.9m it made in 2016 – and has originated £1.7bn in loans.
Funding Circle's general counsel is former Kemp Little managing partner Lucy Vernall, who joined from Wonga in 2014 after three years at the payday lender, which went into administration last week.
Freshfields is also currently advising on Aston Martin's proposed IPO, while both Freshfields and Linklaters also acted for the issuer and the banks respectively on medical device-maker ConvaTec's 2016 IPO and ready-meals giant Bakkavor's London listing last year.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllSpanish Firm Continues Geographical Diversification With Latest Partner Appointments
MoFo Replenishes Singapore Corporate Partner Loss as Lawyer Returns From Gibson Dunn
Trending Stories
- 1Adapting to AI and the Needs of Lawyers Will Be Key For Shutts & Bowen, Says Incoming Ft. Lauderdale Leader
- 2What Qualities Will Distinguish Good from Great Service In 2025?
- 3The Met Hires GC of Elite University as Next Legal Chief
- 4Not Here: Court Finds Texas Has No Jurisdiction Over Google
- 5Lawyer's Retirement Benefits Excluded From Marital Property
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250