LONDON (3 April 2007) — The London office of international law firm Faegre & Benson LLP has advised Fairfax I.S plc and Seymour Pierce Limited in their roles as Broker and Nominated Advisor (Nomad) respectively in the $65 million AIM IPO of Evolvence India Holdings plc (EIH), a ‘fund-of-funds’ holding company focused on India.
The EIH fund is promoted by Evolvence Capital Ltd, a Dubai- based alternative investment firm established in 2000 with a primary investment focus on Gulf Co-operation Council countries and India. Evolvence Capital currently has assets under management of approximately one billion dollars.
Money raised through the dollar-denominated shares on AIM will be split 70% to the fund-of-funds, 10% to the Life Sciences Fund and 20% into direct investments.
This is the first instruction Faegre has received from Fairfax, but the firm has advised Seymour Pierce in their role as Nomad on several previous AIM admissions. The Faegre team was led by Corporate Partner Donald Stewart who was assisted by Robert Darwin. Matt Thompson in the Minneapolis office provided advice on the US Investment Company Act issues. Evolvence India Holdings were advised by Kirkland & Ellis.
Donald Stewart said:
“The Indian economy is currently one of the fastest growing major economies in the world, with Indian companies having the highest return on equity in Asia. Evolvence India Holdings is an exciting company offering exposure to a diversified pool of 67 Indian firms in high-growth areas.
Faegre & Benson’s transatlantic capability meant we were able to field a UK/US team to deal with Corporate law issues advising on both sides of the pond. The deal was complicated by the need to structure the onward investment of funds raised so as to deal with US Investment Company Act issues, on which Matt Thompson in our Minneapolis office provided specific advice.”