Law firm Stephenson Harwood LLP has advised nominated adviser and broker, Macquarie Capital (Europe) Limited (Macquarie), on the AIM IPO of Distribution Finance Capital Holdings PLC (DF Capital). Macquarie also acted as broker in connection with a simultaneous £20 million vendor placing of DF Capital shares. On its admission to AIM on 9 May 2019, DF Capital had a market capitalisation of £95.97 million, based on the placing price of 90 pence per ordinary share.
The IPO is the result of a demerger of Distribution Finance Capital Limited (DFC) from TruFin PLC to make a new holding company, DF Capital. TruFin, which listed on AIM in 2018, is an operating company focused on growing fintech and banking businesses. DF Capital is a business lender, which establishes relationships with manufacturers, providing working capital solutions up and down their supply chains. This IPO provides an enhanced opportunity, amongst other things, for DF Capital to obtain a bank licence.
This is the second IPO in 2019 on which Stephenson Harwood has successfully advised, following the £200 million premium listing of US Solar Fund Plc, which commenced trading at the end of April.
The Stephenson Harwood team advising Macquarie was led by corporate partners Tom Nicholls and David Dowding, who were supported by associate Gabrielle Pugh and tax partner John Meehan. The team also advised Macquarie on TruFin's AIM IPO in 2018.