England - London • Corporate and commercial

Linklaters LLP

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Linklaters LLP is regarded by some clients as ‘the best team in the ECM markets globally’ and remains among the market leaders for ECM work. The team is equally adept on both bank and issuer-side mandates and boasts deep knowledge in primary and secondary offerings, ’dual-track’ processes, direct listings, equity private placements, and governance and compliance advice – particularly across UK, US and EMEA markets. Leading US ECM lawyer Pam Shores and seasoned corporate practitioner James Wootton now lead the team as global co-heads of equities following John Lane's retirement in April 2023. Shores advises clients on the full lifecycle of their ECM transactions, from early stage fund raising through to IPOs and secondary market capital raisings, as well as on debt capital markets transactions. Wootton is a go-to name for the full range of corporate and ECM transactions, frequently advising global corporate and financial institutions. Elsewhere in the department, former practice co-head and renowned ECM lawyer Jason Manketo handles complex cross-border transactions in the space, whilst Tom Thorne comes recommended for both his listing rules driven transactions and general equity capital markets expertise.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘This is the best team in the ECM markets globally.’

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Key clients

  • Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft
  • Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG
  • Burjeel Holdings
  • Anglo American
  • Oaktree Capital Management (OCM Luxembourg Chemical Tankers S.à r.l.)
  • Arrival
  • Goldfields
  • Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Limited
  • Kinnevik
  • Qatar Investment Authority
  • Munich Re
  • Barclays
  • Arison Holdings
  • Capital on Tap

Lawyers

Hall of Fame

The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.

Jason Manketo

Jason Manketo

Hall of fameLinklaters LLP

Global Chair of Equities.  Advises clients on the life cycle of their equity capital markets activities, from early-stage private placements through to IPOs and secondary market capital raisings, including accelerated bookbuildings and rights issues, as well as cross-border M&A and debt capital market transactions. He advises across multiple sectors, including fintech, financial services and consumer sectors, and markets, including the UK, MENA and Benelux region. He is also a member of the firm’s cross-practice ESG team, with a particular focus on ESG disclosure and governance issues, and has been at the forefront of the development of the European SPAC market, advising sponsors and underwriters in connection with SPAC IPO and de-SPAC transactions on the Amsterdam and London stock exchanges.

Pam Shores

Hall of fameLinklaters LLP

Global Co-Head of Equity Capital Markets. Advises clients on the life cycle of their equity capital markets activities, from early stage fundraising through to IPOs and secondary market capital raisings, including placings and rights issues, as well as on debt capital markets transactions. She has led the teams on many of the firm’s most complex cross-border capital markets transactions and has experience across many industry sectors.

Leading individuals

Mike Bienenfeld

Mike Bienenfeld

Linklaters LLP

Mike is a US corporate and capital markets partner based in London. His practice focusses on equity and debt capital markets, public M&A and SEC advisory work. He is the co-head of the SEC compliance function at Linklaters, and established the firm’s SEC Transactions and Compliance Group. Mike is SEC counsel to some of the largest international companies listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ, and has significant experience advising on listings and IPOs on the major stock exchanges across the US, Europe and South Africa, event-driven rights issues and equity placings, private capital raising and debt capital markets transactions.

James Wootton

James Wootton

Linklaters LLP

James is a corporate partner based in London and is Global Co-Head of our Equities practice and advises companies, financial institutions and funds on a wide range of corporate, M&A and capital markets matters. He specialises in particular in equity capital markets transactions and  in recent years has advised Wise on its London direct listing, Alphawave IP, Allied Irish Banks, TSB Banking Group and Countryside Properties, among others, on their London IPOs, and the underwriters on the IPOs of Oxford Nanopore Technologies,  Clydesdale & Yorkshire Banks, Royal Mail and ConvaTec. He also operates at the forefront of regulatory developments across the equity capital markets space and regularly advises banking industry groups in this area.

Next Generation Partners

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Pam Shores, James Wooton

Other key lawyers

Jason Manketo, Mike Bienenfeld, Tom Thorne