Gateley, the first UK law firm to go public, has raised £30m through a successful listing on the London Stock Exchange today.

The trading of ordinary shares placed at 95p began at 8am, following £30m being raised pursuant to the placing of 31,589,937 ordinary shares with institutional and other investors. This values the new plc at £100m.

Gross proceeds of £5m and £25m have been raised for the company and the selling shareholders respectively. Seven leading partners are now sitting on a share pile worth £2.5m-£3.5m each.

The share price surged as high as 110p in early trading but eased back to close at 99p, up 4% on the day.

In a statement, the new company said the net proceeds of the £5m raised by the company will be used to ‘support the transition from the previous LLP structure and for general working capital to support and implement Gateley’s growth strategy’.

The Anglo-Scottish full-service commercial firm said its board ‘intends to adopt a progressive dividend policy, to reflect the expectation of future cashflow generation and long-term earnings potential of the group’.

Gateley said the admission received strong support from staff, partners and Gateley clients, with about 10% of gross placing proceeds being investments in the company by clients.

Cantor Fitzgerald Europe was the financial adviser, nominated adviser and broker to Gateley. KPMG was the accountant and tax adviser.

The new company will trade as Gateley Plc in England and HBJ Gateley in Scotland.

Michael Ward, chief executive officer, commented: 'We are delighted to be the first UK law firm to list on AIM and today marks a significant achievement for this successful, fast growing and entrepreneurial legal services group.

'The IPO will provide the platform for the continued success of the business, as well as accelerate its growth opportunities and facilitate value creation through an increased ability to acquire, incentivise, differentiate and where sensible diversify.

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He added: 'We view the support from staff, partners, clients and investors as a strong endorsement of the group’s growth plans and we look forward to creating value for our new shareholders as we begin life as a listed public company.'