While investor appetite for initial public offerings may be down, as noted by some quarterly reports, several big listings have recently come to market, many of which have yielded key roles for capital markets lawyers from a bevy of Am Law 200 firms.
First Data Corp., an Atlanta-based credit card payment processing company that private equity giant KKR acquired for $29 billion just before the onset of the global financial crisis, raised $2.56 billion this month in a somewhat lackluster listing, one that was still the largest U.S. IPO of 2015. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, a longtime legal adviser to KKR, took the lead for First Data on its float, with underwriters being represented by Davis Polk & Wardwell. The two firms divvied up $3.54 million in legal fees and expenses related to the listing, according to a First Data securities filing.
