White & Case Represents Visa on Largest IPO in US History
New York,
March 20, 2008 ... Global law firm White & Case LLP represented Visa Inc., operator of the world's largest retail electronic payment network, in the largest initial public offering in US history. The first major IPO to occur in the first quarter, the deal was closely watched by Wall Street as a measure of investor confidence to put new money into equities and a barometer of the overall health of the US economy.
Visa sold 446.6 million shares at $44 each, raising $19.7 billion in gross proceeds. On its first day of trading, the stock rose more than 28% to close at $56.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Serving as Visa's lead outside counsel on the IPO were White & Case partners Mark L. Mandel, S. Ward Atterbury and Colin J. Diamond in New York.
"We congratulate Visa on the enormous success of its IPO, and we are very pleased to have been able to play an important role in it," said Mandel. "This transaction was extremely complex not only because of its size and global scope, but also because of the novel issues it raised."
Along with the Firm's work on Visa's US public offering and listing, White & Case's Tokyo office represented Visa on its concurrent public offering in Japan. The Firm also worked on Visa's concurrent public offering in Canada. In addition, White & Case helped Visa implement an equity incentive compensation plan for Visa's more than 5,000 employees worldwide.
White & Case also counseled Visa on the complicated global reorganization that preceded the IPO, which involved soliciting consents from member financial institutions in more than 100 countries and structuring a series of mergers that consolidated Visa's various international organizations into a Delaware corporation, Visa Inc.
"A number of issues that arose with the IPO resulted from the unique structure of the transaction and the reorganization that led to the formation of Visa Inc.," said Atterbury. "Resolving these issues demanded our Firm's breadth of talent and capability across multiple jurisdictions and cultures to help bring the transaction to a close."
About White & CaseWhite & Case LLP is a leading global law firm with more than 2,300 lawyers in 37 offices in 25 countries. Our clients value the breadth and depth of our US, English and local law capabilities and rely on us for their complex cross-border commercial and financial transactions and for international arbitration and litigation. Whether in established or emerging markets, the hallmark of White & Case is our complete dedication to the business priorities and legal needs of our clients.
Contact:
Nicholas Clarke
Regional Media Relations Manager – Americas
White & Case LLP
1 212 819 7808