Partners from listed law firm Gately have raised around £6.4m via the sale of shares in the firm to new and existing shareholders, according to a recent filing with the London Stock Exchange. Accumulatively, the partnership offloaded 5,761,971 shares at a price of £1.11 per unit, with five of the firm’s most elite partners taking home more than £300,000 each. At the top of the table was chief executive Michael Ward who pocketed £365,079 from the share sale, while COO Peter Davies, joint managing partner Paul Hayward, corporate restructuring partner Brendan McGeever and commercial property partner Callum Nuttall all also banking in excess of £300,000.

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Gately listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market in June last year, making it the first UK law firm to ever go public. The partners of what was formerly Gately LLP retained 70 per cent of shares in the newly listed firm, while the float raised £5m for the firm and £25m for shareholders. A five-year lock in agreement accompanied the listing, which prohibits the firm’s partners from selling more than 10 per cent of their shares in any 12-month period. The latest share sale accounts for 5.4 per cent of the total issued capital.

Sources: Legal Week; Law Gazette