International law firm Clifford Chance advised long-standing client, Informa PLC – the FTSE 100 international events, intelligence and scholarly research group, on its secondary share issuance, raising gross proceeds of approximately £1 billion. The transaction is the largest capital raise by a company listed on the London Stock Exchange in the past 12 months.

The transaction was structured by way of an accelerated book-build process, using a “cashbox” structure, featuring an innovative split into two tranches: one firm and one conditional (the latter requiring approval at a shareholder general meeting), designed to enable Informa to raise capital across both tranches in a single book-build process. The placing was comprised of new ordinary shares in Informa representing approximately 19.99% of its existing issued share capital and is one of the key components of Informa’s COVID-19 action plan. The proceeds will be used by Informa to strengthen its balance sheet and reduce overall net debt.

The transaction was well received by the markets, having been oversubscribed by investors.

This transaction is just one of several COVID-19 related mandates for which Informa has recently turned to Clifford Chance. Others include assisting Informa with seeking access to the UK Government’s Covid-19 Corporate Financing Facility and arranging additional financing facilities to further enhance the company’s liquidity. Clifford Chance is currently advising a broad range of corporate clients on the implications of COVID-19 and the corporate finance options available to them, such as equity capital raises.

The Clifford Chance team, all based in London, was led by Partners Steven Fox (Corporate) and Simon Thomas (ECM), alongside Senior Associate James Koessler (ECM), and also included Associates Minty Hamer (ECM), Phoebe Richardson (ECM) and Olivia Higgs (Corporate), and Trainee Molly Margiotta (ECM).