Equiniti administers DWF's big IPO

(Sharecast News) - Services and payment provider Equiniti Group has been appointed by DWF Group to administer its initial public offering (IPO), and as its share registrar, it announced on Monday.The FTSE 250 company said the partnership floatation had seen it deliver 300 million shares to investors, including DWF's partners, using its "market-leading" platforms and "deep" industry knowledge.DWF listed on the UK main market with a market capitalisation of approximately £366m, making it the largest listing to date in 2019.Equiniti said it followed the trend of UK law firms joining the public market, after rules about ownership changed in 2012, with DWF being the largest firm to list.Despite market uncertainty appearing to have slowed the broader market, Equinit's board said large UK floats had remained strong, with an upturn on more than £500m listings from 2017 to 2018.Equiniti, which was registrar to about half the FTSE 100, assisted 21 companies to float on the London Stock Exchange in 2018, including the two largest - Aston Martin Lagonda and Quilter.The DWF appointment came at a time when a record number of issuers were selecting Equiniti as their service provider, the board claimed.Equiniti's recent full-year results showed that in addition to IPOs, it had won 11 share registration and 17 employee share plan transfers last year."Equiniti's market-leading technology, culture of service and ability to consult on and execute complex transactions is resulting in more companies than ever choosing to work with us, demonstrated by a record year in our share services division in 2018," said chief executive officer Guy Wakeley."We welcome DWF as an Equiniti client and wish them the very best as they enter the public markets - a very exciting time which we have been pleased to be part of."