Paul Hastings’ Securities and Capital Markets Practice Logs Record Year

January 13, 2021

Paul Hastings’ leading global Securities and Capital Markets practice continued its strong momentum with a record year in 2020, having advised its clients on dozens of sophisticated, high-profile transactions. From IPOs to high yield bonds, the global platform closed a record number of deals in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia. Paul Hastings is one of only a handful of firms in the U.S. that represents a true cross-section of clients in Capital Markets transactions, including public companies, private equity and venture capital firms and virtually every investment bank. In addition to its top-of-the-market securities and capital markets support, Paul Hastings’ Public Company Compliance Group provides its public company clients with comprehensive advice on compliance, disclosure and corporate governance matters.

Paul Hastings’ Securities and Capital Markets practice experienced a record year with a 100% increase in equity and debt capital markets deal volume and significant year-over-year growth in all key financial metrics.
Paul Hastings is one of only ten global law firms ranked in Bloomberg’s published league tables for both U.S. IPOs and High Yield bonds as managers’ counsel.
Paul Hastings is ranked Nationwide by Chambers for High Yield products. Notable deals during 2020 included Providence Service Corporation’s $500 million senior secured notes offering; Prime Healthcare Services’ $700 million senior secured notes offering; and Kronos Acquisition Holdings’ $1.9 billion Dividend Recapitalization Financing.
Paul Hastings had a transformative year in Equity Capitals Markets, including:
- Focusing on core high growth sectors like Fintech and Life Sciences as well as Real Estate, Consumer and other sectors. Notable deals during 2020 included Accolade’s IPO and follow-on offering; Spectrum Pharmaceuticals’ underwritten public offering of common stock; Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s follow-on public offering of class A common stock; and Sun Communities’ public offerings of common stock.
- Becoming a market leader for SPACs. During 2020, Paul Hastings advised sponsors, issuers and underwriters on more than 30 SPAC transactions, including the $500 million IPO by GO Acquisition Corp.; the $230 million IPO by Sandbridge Acquisition Corporation; the $300 million IPO by Lux Health Tech Acquisition Corp.; the $200 million IPO for Pine Island Acquisition SPAC.; and the $414 million upsized IPO by Senior Connect Acquisition Corp.
- High-profile international IPOs in Asia, Latin America and Europe, including: China Bohai Bank’s US$1.77 billion global offering; the US$615 million Hidrovias de Brasil IPO, the largest IPO in Brazil in 2020; and Link Mobility’s listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange, the biggest IPO in the Nordics in 2020.

Paul Hastings’ Securities and Capital Markets practice continued to expand its data and predictive analytics during 2020 to help clients improve decisions and increase value, including by collecting and analyzing data from U.S. IPOs, as evidenced by its comprehensive report, Going Public: The U.S. IPO Report, as well as its development of a proprietary database covering High Yield bond transactions.

The success of Paul Hastings’ Securities and Capital Markets practice was bolstered by recent high-caliber lateral additions by the Firm, including from Latham, Shearman, Simpson, Skadden and Sullivan & Cromwell, in key markets including the addition of Frank Lopez, Chris Austin, and Joyce Xu in New York, Brandon Bortner in DC, Jonathan Ko in LA, Dr. Katja Kaulamo in Frankfurt, Thiago Spercel in Sao Paulo and Chaobo Fan in Hong Kong.

At Paul Hastings, our purpose is clear — to help our clients and people navigate new paths to growth. With a strong presence throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the U.S., Paul Hastings is recognized as one of the world’s most innovative global law firms.