Slaughter and May is advising PrimaryBid Limited on its Series B equity fundraising to raise approximately $50 million.
New investors include London Stock Exchange Group, Draper Esprit, OMERS Ventures, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures and ABN AMRO Ventures and existing shareholders, Pentech and Outward Ventures, will also participate.
PrimaryBid is an FCA-regulated platform that connects retail investors with listed companies on equity offerings. PrimaryBid has completed over 41 capital raisings for UK listed companies and investment trusts since April 2020 and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, including raises by FTSE 100 companies Ocado, Taylor Wimpey and Segro which Slaughter and May also advised on.
The proceeds of the fundraising will assist PrimaryBid’s international expansion, including into Europe where it has an exclusive commercial agreement with Euronext across nine geographies on the continent.
Slaughter and May’s work on PrimaryBid’s fundraising builds on the relationship having advised on a number of aspects of its development and offering.
Anand Sambasivan (CEO) and James Deal (COO) of PrimaryBid said:
“PrimaryBid is delighted to have been supported by Slaughter and May in this latest round of funding negotiations, and we thank them for their interest and engagement with PrimaryBid’s corporate governance agenda from the outset. There are powerful arguments for inclusivity and transparency in the capital raising ecosystem, and our desire to put the public back in public markets is shared by our backers, advisers and stock exchange partners. We are excited by the opportunities to grow with them both in the UK and internationally.”
Richard Smith and Rob Innes said:
“We are delighted to be advising PrimaryBid on this important step. Enabling retail shareholders to participate in undocumented equity placings has been an important development during the COVID-19 pandemic, with advantages for both investors and issuers. We are confident the PrimaryBid platform will continue to bring further solutions to equity capital market transactions.”
The Slaughter and May team was led by Richard Smith and Rob Innes, supported by Jess Stewart as lead associate and Alissa Veiga-Pestana (Associate) and Ilia Angelov (Trainee). Dominic Robertson (Partner) provided tax advice and Ben Kingsley (Partner) regulatory advice.