Clifford Chance and Latham advise on €6bn London listing

Clifford Chance and Latham & Watkins landed key roles on the €6 billion London listing of Metlen, the largest listing in the City so far this year and a significant boost for its capital markets.

The company - a major player in energy, metals and infrastructure - redomiciled from Greece to the UK ahead of the transaction which moved its primary listing from Athens to the London Stock Exchange. The shares started trading on Monday (4 August). No new funds were raised, but the deal positions Metlen for likely inclusion in the FTSE 100 at the next index review in September.

The listing makes Metlen one of the first companies to take advantage of the UK’s updated listing rules around shares in foreign currencies. Announced in March, the new rules allow inclusion in FTSE indices even if shares are not denominated in sterling. Metlen’s shares remain in euros and the company is keeping a secondary listing in Athens.

Explaining the company's reasons for the move, chairman and CEO Evangelos Mytilineos told Bloomberg: "We have decided the time was right to move to a bigger exchange and for us, determined to stay in Europe, we thought London was the best option."

Advising

Clifford Chance advised Metlen on the redomiciliation and listing. The firm helped set up the UK holding company, managed the acquisition of the Greek-listed entity through a takeover under Greek law, and supported the dual-listing process. The team was led by capital markets head Simon Thomas, supported by senior associate James Koessler.

Latham & Watkins advised the joint financial advisers and sponsors, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup. The team was led by London corporate partners James Inness and Anna Ngo, and counsel Koushik Prasad.