Clifford Chance and A&O Shearman acted on Czechoslovak Group’s €3.8 billion IPO in Amsterdam, the largest defence sector listing on record.
The transaction required integrated advice across Dutch, English and Czech law, which played to a small group of firms with the international reach.
Clifford Chance and A&O Shearman took lead roles on Czechoslovak Group’s €3.8 billion Amsterdam IPO, a float widely reported to be the largest defence sector listing ever and one that required integrated advice across multiple legal regimes.
CSG is a Prague-based defence manufacturer supplying ammunition and military equipment to governments and armed forces, primarily across Europe and NATO countries, owned by 33-year-old Czech entrepreneur Michal Strnad.
The listing valued CSG at around €25 billion and comes amid surging investor appetite for defence assets as European military spending accelerates. Shares rose sharply on debut, reinforcing the momentum behind defence assets in public markets.
A narrow adviser pool
The nature of the listing and the number of jurisdictions in play meant the IPO played to a small group of firms with the international reach, deep capital markets benches and specialist defence regulatory expertise to handle it.
The advising firms were required to navigate Dutch listing rules, US and English securities laws, and Czech defence and export control law in parallel.
Clifford Chance advised CSG on Dutch, US, English and Czech law, with teams spanning the firm’s Amsterdam, London and Prague offices. The deal team was led by partners Chris Roe (London), Han Teerink (Amsterdam) and Jill Concannon (London), with Prague managing partner Miloš Felgr acting as a coordination and relationship partner for CSG.
A&O Shearman advised the underwriting banks on Dutch, US, English and Czech law, co‑led by partners Jeff Hendrickson (London), Petr Vybíral (Prague) and Michael Bloch (London).
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