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Carey Olsen's listing specialists have advised on the initial public offering (IPO) of Hadrian's Wall Secured Investments Limited on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and its admission to the premium segment of the official list of the UK Listing Authority. It is the first main market IPO of an investment company this year.
The initial placing has raised £80 million. The company will invest primarily in UK commercial loans secured by a range of assets including equipment, plant and machinery, real estate and trade receivables.
Carey Olsen's team included partner Ben Morgan, senior associate Annette Alexander and associate Alexandria du Jardin who advised Hadrian's Wall Capital Limited’s investment adviser on the Guernsey aspects of the admission, including the incorporation and registration of the Guernsey company.
Advocate Morgan said: "Uncertainty regarding the EU referendum has prevented a number of IPOs from going ahead this year. Guernsey is seen as a jurisdiction of choice for entities listing on the LSE and Carey Olsen is well known for its funds experience. We advised on over 60% of the Guernsey-domiciled investment company IPOs in 2015."
Hadrian's Wall Secured Investments Limited chairman, David Warr, said: "In an environment that has not seen a main market-listed investment company IPO since 2015, it is excellent that Hadrian’s Wall Secured Investments Limited’s IPO attracted a broad investor base of institutional investors as well as investors from the wealth management and adviser communities.
"It is encouraging to see such a strong appetite for a company centred on SME lending in the UK; we believe it is complementary to other listed investment companies that are focussed on large business loans or unsecured consumer and small business segments of the market.”
Marc Bajer of the Investment Adviser said of the results: "We are extremely pleased with the support from investors and the endorsement of what we believe to be a very strong proposition. We believe the secured SME lending market within the UK continues to be under-served due to continuing disintermediation within the financial sector. We have a distinctive approach of working with originators throughout the UK to source lending opportunities. We believe that our approach, combined with skilled investment analysis, and the experience of our investment team, should position the Company to capitalise on this opportunity."
