Apparently KTM would be running the show. according to this article in " The Australian " it could be a ripper! I also did a bit of research on this one. This has the potential to be like the One Page IPO the KTM Capital did, if they price it right.
Sparke’s Float could shake up legal sector
THE AUSTRALIAN OCTOBER 07, 2014 12:00AM Print Save for later Bridget Carter Mergers and Acquisitions Editor
SPARKE Helmore is in talks with advisers about a potential float on the Australian Securities Exchange in a move that would trigger a radical shake-up of Australia’s mid-tier legal sector should the listing eventuate. The law firm employs 600 people in nine offices across Australia working in various areas of law, including corporate, commercial, intellectual property and insurance. It is understood that Sparke Helmore has been in talks with Keith Kerridge’s corporate advisory firm KTM Capital about the potential initial public offering. The deal would add to other floats where KTM has acted as adviser or underwriter amid buoyant market conditions. These include the highly successful float of job outsourcing website Freelancer, cloud-based services group Urbanise, and Australian Ethical Investment. KTM Capital also has an interest in the former Packer family investment arm Ellerston Capital. While Sparke Helmore’s board was interested in proceeding with a listing, it was trying to convince its partners on the merits of the move, a source said. Should the company float on the ASX, it would join other Australian publicly listed businesses, including Slater and Gordon, Shine Lawyers and the troubled group Integrated Legal Holdings Group. Sparke Helmore would be the only public company specialising in corporate and commercial work, given both Slater’s and Shine focused on personal injury cases, while ILH was a smaller law firm that offered general legal services. Second-tier firms have lower costs than the major industry heavyweights and have been growing market share with corporates looking at ways to reduce costs since the global financial crisis. Among Sparke Helmore’s competitors are firms such as Baker & McKenzie, Clayton Utz, Colin Biggers & Paisley, Gadens and Corrs Chambers Westgarth In a statement, Sparke Helmore’s national managing partner Jesse Webb said yesterday the firm was continually assessing ways to provide better advice and legal services to its clients in a rapidly evolving legal services market. “The partnership assesses a range of any number of growth options at any given time, but no decision about a potential listing has been made at this stage,” he said. Market sources described Sparke Helmore as a company with a high-volume practice in the area of insurance. That part of the market was consolidating because the clients were also consolidating. The firm could potentially be looking to the market to fund the information technology required to improve efficiencies, one source said. George Beaton, partner at Beaton Capital, said Sparke Helmore had been considering a listing for sometime. “It is not an unexpected development and it is likely to be followed by others,” he said.
