International law firm Trowers & Hamlins said it had played a key role as lead counsel on the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of APM Terminals Bahrain, hailed as Bahrain's most successful offering in 10 years.

The transaction originally comprised an offering of 18 million shares, but generated a total demand of 97.4 million shares or BD64.3 million ($170 million) between both the institutional and retail investors, resulting in an oversubscription by 5.4 times the offer size.

The original offer price placed valuation on the issuer at $160 million. The share price then increased by 20 per cent in the first week after it was listed on the Bahrain Bourse, drew together the firm's expertise in capital markets, logistics infrastructure and corporate structuring.

The project required co-ordination with the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications, the Bahrain Bourse, the Capital Markets Supervision Directorate of the Central Bank of Bahrain, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and the Directorate of Ports and Maritime Affairs.

On the vital role, Trowers & Hamlins' partner Brian Howard said: "We are delighted to have acted on this important development for APM Terminals Bahrain, the kingdom's capital markets and the Bahrain economy generally and extremely excited about the increased prospects for new issues coming to the Bahrain Bourse, both on the main market and the nascent Bahrain Investment Market."

The fully underwritten IPO included a new 'participating broker offering' feature (B-IPO) and is the first electronic IPO in Bahrain utilising a web based subscription platform (E-IPO).

Trowers & Hamlins helped develop the specific legal framework for the utilisation of these new platforms within the IPO which encouraged a significant majority of the subscribers, stated Howard.

The IPO was the first to be conducted under the new dual application process under the proposed listing rules and offering of securities module.

It also included the first election of directors to a public company in Bahrain utilising the cumulative voting mechanism which became mandatory for all elections of joint stock company directors after June 2018, he added.

The IPO satisfied the requirements of the concession agreement for the operation of Khalifa Bin Salman Port drafted by Trowers & Hamlins more than 12 years ago.

Despite the changes in legislation and associated processes applicable to the IPO during 2018, the issue met the timetables agreed with the concerned regulatory bodies at start of year.

The Trowers team worked with Hassan Radhi and Associates which acted as Bahrain legal counsel to the IPO.

APM Terminals Bahrain CEO Mark Hardiman said: "We are pleased to have selected Trowers & Hamlins as our legal partners for this IPO. Their depth of experience in these transactions shines through and helped to deliver the IPO's success."

Trowers & Hamlins is well known for its eclectic mix of specialisations combining sector leadership in the UK and across the Middle East.

Outside the UK, it has more than 80 lawyers and four offices in the Middle East North Africa region (including Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai and Oman), as well as an office in Malaysia.-TradeArabia News Service