Baker Botts L.L.P. has a thriving equity offerings practice, driven in large part by its exceptional energy client base. The firm has also impressed with its connections to investment banks and its expertise in MLPs and other structured equity products. Joshua Davidson  is a big name in the Houston market, frequently representing energy companies and underwriters in headline equity offerings; he is also noted in particular for his expertise in MLPs. Washington DC’s Catherine Gallagher is also rated for energy deals. Mollie Duckworth  has joined Latham & Watkins LLP.

Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP‘s dominance of the high-yield debt market and its peerless connections to underwriters, provides it with a platform for a thriving equity offerings practice. The firm has an especially strong record in sponsor-backed IPOs. The firm frequently acts as designated underwriters’ counsel on a wide range of capital markets products, with versatile partners that operate in the loans and equity and debt offerings spaces. The team recently represented the underwriters in the $879m public offering of common stock by Match Group, in a deal classed as a ‘synthetic exchange’. William Miller  is a key partner and Douglas Horowitz has left the firm.

Clifford Chance continues to be recognised for its prominence in REIT and Latin America offerings. Its global standing makes it especially well-equipped to handle US offerings by overseas issuers. It is also prominent in closed-end fund offerings in the US market. Andrew Epstein and Kathleen Werner  are leading figures in REIT offerings, including equity REITs and mortgage REITs, along with SPAC IPOs. Jonathan Zonis  is co-head of Americas capital markets and is noted for Latin America offerings and issuances from other parts of the globe, while Hugo Triaca  is another key name for Latin America offerings. Clifford Cone  is closely associated with fund offerings. All named individuals are based in New York.

Cooley LLP maintained high levels of activity in 2021, with further impressive deal flow in tech, healthcare and life sciences. It continued to work on some of the highest value deals in the market. Although better known for issuer-side engagements, it is building its reputation for representing underwriters; bank clients include Credit Suisse Securities, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Securities. The firm has also become more recognised for US offerings by foreign issuers; it advised Coupang, the South Korean e-commerce giant, on its headline $4.55bn NYSE IPO, the largest Wall Street debut by a foreign issuer in seven years. Moreover, the firm has achieved further prominence in de-SPAC mergers. The team is spread across it multiple US offices with co-chairs Charlie Kim  and David Peinsipp  based in San Diego and San Francisco respectively. Palo Alto’s Eric Jensen , who led the Coupang deal, and New York partner Eric Blanchard are also prominent figures. Boston partner Richard Segal is an emerging talent, and in March 2022 the firm gained equity and debt transactions expert John-Paul Motley from O’Melveny & Myers.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP‘s multi-talented capital markets team typically lands a sizeable market share of headline and high-value IPOs and other equity offerings. Despite the team’s relatively small size compared to major competitors, it has an outstanding record in both issuer and underwriter engagements; it advised Robinhood Markets on its $1.9bn IPO. The group operates across multiple sectors and has also landed a number of SPAC IPO mandates. William Fogg and Andrew Pitts are especially prolific advisers on equity offerings, along with Scott Bennett and Nicholas Dorsey . Johnny Skumpija  has joined Sidley Austin LLP.

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP continues to standout for its work in financial services, healthcare, media and entertainment, along with its frequent capital markets advice to private equity funds and their portfolio companies. The firm has also worked on a series of recent deals in the aviation sector and has landed a number of SPAC IPOs and PIPE transactions. It is best known for representing issuers. Its standing in financial services has brought it an array of landmark engagements over the years, including the recent demerger of Jackson from Prudential, establishing Jackson as an independent publicly-traded company. Matthew Kaplan  and Steven Slutzky  lead the team and Peter Loughran , the lead partner on the Jackson/Prudential demerger, is another prominent name. Paul Rodel  is another key team member. Nicholas Pellicani was promoted to partner in May 2021.

Dechert LLP has maintained a strong presence in headline IPOs and other key engagements such as jurisdictional migrations; it represented Tiziana Life Sciences in its movement from listings on both the London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, to a sole listing on NASDAQ. The life sciences, private credit and business development company sectors are particular key areas for the team. Thomas Friedmann, Boston managing partner and co-chair of the capital markets practice, is a prominent name in private credit and business development company offerings, and fellow co-chair of the team and New York partner David S Rosenthal is at the forefront of life sciences transactions.

DLA Piper LLP (US) has a large US capital markets team spread across its multiple offices, best known for mid-cap deals. The large team has enabled it to develop an impressively wide-ranging list of engagements from issuers and underwriters. The department has landed a series of headline SPAC offering engagements, thanks to the efforts of Jeffrey Selman in San Francisco. Head of the capital markets group Christopher Paci has also played a pivotal role in developing the firm’s presence in Latin America transactions.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP stands out for its women-led team in both New York and Silicon Valley. Thanks to the success of its Silicon Valley team led by Sarah Solum, which has a major focus on pre-IPO companies, it has achieved a series of headline engagements in the tech and life sciences fields. The capital markets team has also made a further impression in SPAC offerings and de-SPAC transactions, and has solid connections to both issuers and underwriters. Valerie Ford Jacob is hugely experienced across the capital markets sphere, most recently advising on a number of headline de-SPAC transactions. Michael Levitt is also noted for de-SPAC expertise and Pamela Marcogliese is at the forefront of taking businesses public as public benefit corporations; she and Solum advised Zymergen on its IPO as a public benefit corporation on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP has an exceptional corporate client base, providing it with a steady pipeline of capital markets engagements. Although more active in debt offerings, the firm maintains a notable presence in the equity field, which included acting for Petco Health and Wellness Company on its $993m IPO. New York partner Andrew Fabens and Los Angeles’ Peter Wardle are two of the co-chairs of the capital markets group and has a fine record in equity offerings. Douglas Horowitz joined the team in 2022 from Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP.

Goodwin‘s longstanding status as one of the leading equity capital markets practices in the US has afforded it consistently active practice in IPOs, PIPEs, private placements and other equity offerings. The firm has benefitted from its commitment to buoyant sectors such as tech, life sciences, healthcare and real estate, and achieved substantial growth in 2021 by deal count. Its market-leading life sciences practice provides the basis for a steady pipeline of IPO and other equity offering engagements. The capital markets team also has a dedicated SPAC group, committed to SPAC offerings and de-SPAC transactions. Edwin O’Connor has an outstanding record in life sciences sector offerings, while Siavosh Salimi is rated for both tech and life sciences transactions. Silicon Valley partner Bradley Weber has played a pivotal role in booting the firm’s standing in the tech space, as has Boston partner Joseph Theis in tech and healthcare.

Hogan Lovells US LLP has made big progress in the equity sphere since the arrival of Richard Aftanas in 2020. Aftanas has given the firm much greater credibility in New York, an office that had been comparatively underweight compared to the firm’s other US offices. Historically the capital markets team has shown particular aptitude in the real estate, life sciences, healthcare and TMT fields, and now is spreading its industry breadth along with particular growth in cross-border offerings originating from Europe, Latin America and elsewhere. The team also benefits from the firm’s outstanding regulatory expertise. Philadelphia partner Steve Abrams co-heads the life sciences and healthcare group and has a fine record in equity offerings, while Washington DC’s David Bonser leads the global REIT practice and heads numerous equity issuances in this field.

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP continues to primarily operate in the REITs, power, energy, retail and financial services sectors. The firm has achieved a significant market share of REIT IPOs over the last few years and the power and utilities groups are also active in equity offerings. The capital markets team has an evenly balanced emphasis on issuer and underwriter clients. New York partners Peter O’Brien, Christina Kwon and Michael Fitzpatrick are key figures in power and utilities transactions and Richmond partner David Wright  is prominent in REIT offerings.

King & Spalding LLP‘s capital markets group has a particular focus on energy, financial institutions, life sciences and healthcare, industrials, real estate and telecoms. It has an impressive client base, including a range of Fortune 500 companies. The firm has landed a series of SPAC-related engagements along with equity offerings to finance acquisitions. A truly national practice, key team members are based in Atlanta, New York, Silicon Valley and Houston. Keith Townsend leads the team from Atlanta, where Spencer Johnson  has a fine record in REIT offerings. Silicon Valley partner Laura Bushnell is noted for life sciences and technology transactions, and New York’s Elizabeth Morgan is another senior practitioner. 

Kirkland & Ellis LLP‘s thriving capital markets practice is fuelled to a large extent by its leading private equity client base and their portfolio companies. It has also achieved further prominence in SPAC-related equity offerings and transactions linked to capital constraints resulting from the Covid-19 crisis; this included a mix of debt and equity issuances by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. Chicago partner Robert Hayward frequently advises private equity portfolio companies on their IPOs and equity offerings. New York’s Joshua Korff is perhaps best known for high-yield debt, but is also active in equity offerings and SPAC transactions. New York partner Sophia Hudson and Los Angeles partner Philippa Bond are also key names.

Latham & Watkins LLP could easily be regarded as the dominant firm in equity offerings given that its market share for  issuer and underwriter engagements routinely puts it amongst the top three firms in both categories. The firm has consistently positioned itself at the forefront of the capital markets field thanks to its effort to target buoyant sectors such as life sciences, tech, and the SPAC segment. It has also landed a series of engagements from foreign issuers seeking US offerings. Showcasing its ability to win the biggest deals in the market, the firm represented Airbnb on its headline $3.83bn IPO on Nasdaq. Global head of capital markets Ian Schuman  has an outstanding record in both equity and debt, as does New York managing partner Marc Jaffe. Gregory Rodgers  continues to be a leading figure in direct listings and Silicon Valley’s Richard Kline is at the forefront of tech sector offerings. Nathan Ajiashvili is widely acclaimed for his expertise in the life sciences segment.

Mayer Brown has significantly expanded its capital markets team in recent years, most recently with the hire of David Freed, a specialist in equity and debt offerings by REITs, from Vinson & Elkins LLP. Additionally, the firm brought in Jonathan Pacheco as a partner in Washington DC from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and promoted John Ablan to the partnership. Launching a new Salt Lake City office in 2022, the firm has added further capital markets expertise in the tech, life sciences, and fintech and insurtech sectors. In 2021, the firm advised on a series of private placements, including deals that led to the issuer achieving unicorn status. In addition, the New York team, especially partner David Bakst, have worked intensively on a series of US offerings by Brazilian issuers; it has a strong association with Brazil firm Tauil & Chequer Advogados. Israel is another key market for the US team. Anna Pinedo, Chicago partner Edward Best and Phyllis Korff are senior members of the department.

Milbank has historically been known primarily for its debt offerings expertise, but it has upped its emphasis on equity issuances and has made significant progress in its forte areas, notably the energy, infrastructure and project sectors along with the gaming and aerospace industries. The firm has also made an impression in the SPAC segment. It has an excellent record in US offerings by foreign issuers and frequently advises portfolio companies of private equity houses. Marcelo Mottesi is chair of the global capital markets group and co-chair of the Latin America team, often representing issuers and underwriters in headline deals originating from Latin America. Rod Miller leads the US securities group and has advised on a series of headline IPOs and other equity offerings over the years; he recently advised the underwriters on the $498m IPO by Atotech. Brett Nadritch and Paul Denaro are also key names, and Antonio Diaz-Albertini joined the team from Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP in March 2021.

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP has made a further impression in SPAC transactions and ESG matters. It also continues to benefit from the presence of a number of former SEC officials within the firm. Utilities and energy, financial services, technology, and life sciences are key sectors for the capital markets team. It worked on a high volume of offerings by electric and gas utility companies in 2021, along with a strong pipeline of issuances by life sciences clients. It has a large non-US client base and remains active in registered equity offerings, follow-on offerings (including at-the-market offerings), private placements and equity-linked securities. Philadelphia partner Justin Chairman  leads the capital markets team and has a fine record in REITs, life sciences and tech offerings. Pittsburgh partner and former SEC official Celia Soehner is another rated individual, including in the ESG space, and Philadelphia's Joanne Soslow  is a key figure for life sciences and financial services transactions. New York's Thomas Giblin is key for energy and utilities offerings.

Morrison Foerster has made an impression in REIT and SPAC IPOs along with other equity offerings. It has an impressive list of issuer and underwriter clients. The firm is also noted for its experience in energy, cleantech, life sciences, financial services, healthcare and technology.  Much of the team is based in Washington DC where Dave Lynn and Scott Lesmes head the capital markets department, and David Slotkin  and Justin Salon  provide further capital markets expertise, including in the REITs segment.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP continued to build out its team in 2021 with the hire of Mark Mushkin as a partner from Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, and partners Marsha Mogilevich from Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Alice Hsu from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. They all reinforced the New York office and join a wider team with particular strength in San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Boston. Allied with the firm’s strengths, the team is especially active in tech, life sciences and green energy. It has also achieved further prominence in SPAC-related offerings, including de-SPAC transactions and subsequent fund raisings; Hsu provides additional expertise in this field. Bill Hughes leads the team from San Francisco/Silicon Valley where Niki Fang is another key team member, while Albert Vanderlaan is a notable name in Boston.

Paul Hastings LLP‘s expansion of its capital markets team over recent years and its focus on active sectors such as fintech, life sciences, real estate and consumer sectors has paid real dividends. The firm has achieved strong activity levels in equity offerings, acting for both issuers and underwriters; it represents all the bulge-bracket investment banks. This includes follow-on offerings and ATM transactions, and a large market share of SPAC deals including the $220m IPO by Sandbridge X2 Corp and the $414m upsized IPO by Senior Connect Acquisition Corp, along with a series of headline de-SPAC transactions. It continues to be a major force in global offerings, notably deals originating in Mexico and the wider Latin America region. Frank Lopez is co-head of the capital markets group and firm-wide managing partner. Brandon Bortner joined the team from Latham & Watkins LLP in 2021. Named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise. Teri O’Brien left the firm in March 2022.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP has a broad-based practice driven by range of public companies and private equity clients such as Apollo Global Management. In 2021, the firm continued to advise clients on equity offerings to overcome liquidity constraints caused by the Covid-19 crisis. Moreover, it advised a long-listed of private equity portfolio companies on the their IPOs and advised on in excess of 20 SPAC IPOs during the year. Gregory Ezring is global head of finance and capital markets, and frequently represents public companies and private equity portfolio companies on their equity offerings. John Kennedy is co-head of the capital markets group and has continued to work on a series of headline IPOs and other equity offerings to alleviate capital constraints. Brian Janson and Tracey Zaccone are also highly rated; the former advised Clear Secure, the biometric screening company, on its $470m IPO.

Ropes & Gray LLP remains at the forefront of life sciences, healthcare and financial services sector offerings. It has maintained a sizeable share of the SPAC IPO market, and continues to be recognised for its connections to investment banks and private equity firms; it has an especially strong standing in underwriter engagements. Paul Tropp has a fine reputation in representing underwriters in big-ticket equity offerings and in SPAC issuances. Rachel Phillips and Boston partner Craig Marcus  are also key figures. Christopher Capuzzi is an emerging talent. Named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise.

Shearman & Sterling LLP continues to be amongst the leading firms in underwriter representations, particularly healthcare and SPAC equity offerings. The firm maintains an active presence on the issuer side and is noted for its strength in SEC reporting, disclosure and corporate governance. Ilir Mujalovic leads the capital markets team and is particularly known for his expertise and experience in the healthcare sector, and has made a further impression in SPAC offerings; he recently advised the underwriters of on Lucira Health’s $176m IPO. Lona Nallengara is further noted for issuer-side representations in equity offerings, SEC reporting, disclosure and governance, having previously held senior positions at the SEC. Menlo Park partner Christopher Forrester  is a key figure on the West coast. All named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise. Merritt Johnson  has joined Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has a well-rounded and high-end equity offerings practice, driven by a balanced mix of investment bank, private equity sponsor and general corporate clients. The firm has gained further traction in SPAC IPOs and de-SPAC transactions. With its history in private equity, the firm has really benefitted from the trend of private equity sponsors taking their portfolio companies public. The firm has made further progress in representing tech companies and unicorns, thanks in part to the success of its Palo Alto office and the activities of its esteemed private equity clients such as Silver Lake Partners and Blackstone. A team led by leading equity capital markets specialist Joshua Ford Bonnie  advised Blackstone portfolio company Bumble on its headline $2.5bn IPO. Kenneth Wallach also has an excellent record in novel transactions, including for regular client Silver Lake Partners. Joseph Kaufman and Roxane Reardon are highly rated, along with Ryan Bekkerus. William Brentani and Kevin Kennedy are key names in Palo Alto. All named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise.

Vinson & Elkins LLP is best known for its work in the energy and infrastructure sectors, routinely advising on a high-volume of IPOs and other equity offerings, including high-value deals. The firm has also made an impression in REITs and is at the forefront of SPAC IPOs and deSPAC transactions. The firm’s burgeoning list of private equity clients has added to its deal flow. The firm primarily represents issuers, though has a solid pipeline of engagements from underwriters. Alan Beck  and David Oelman  are rated for energy sector IPOs and equity offerings. Ramey Layne is a prominent figure in SPAC IPOs and Brenda Lenahan is a key name in New York.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP has maintained an impressive flow of big-ticket equity offering engagements. It has achieved further prominence in SPAC IPOs and de-SPAC transactions, representing a number of major sponsors such as Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp, Fortress Value Acquisition Corp, The Gores Group and TPG Pace. Although traditionally more active on the issuer-side, the capital markets team has become considerably closer to financial institutions in recent years, thanks in part to the presence of Michael Hickey and recent hire Merritt Johnson . Alexander Lynch  leads the capital markets team and is a big name in equity offerings, including in the SPAC field. Heather Emmel is also prominent in SPAC offerings and Corey Chivers  is another senior practitioner across the debt and equity segments.

White & Case LLP has made a further impression in SPACs, thanks to presence of Joel Rubinstein and a team, which joined the firm in 2020; amongst a multitude of high-profile transactions, the firm advised Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp on its $1.72bn IPO and its subsequent $15bn business combination with Ginkgo Bioworks. Further department growth in Houston has also brought the capital markets group an increase in energy transactions. The firm is a major player in both issuer and underwriter engagements. Colin Diamond  is a leading name in equity offerings, including US offerings by overseas issuers; Stuart Bressman is a key name in offerings by life sciences, tech and energy issuers; and David Thatch  is regional section head of the Americas capital markets practice.

WilmerHale has maintained an active practice thanks in part to its strong association with life sciences, tech and financial services businesses. Life sciences remains its particular forte, particularly in its Boston office, along with additional expertise in New York. Key Boston partners include the highly-rated Cynthia Mazareas, Jason Kropp, David Westenberg and Stuart Falber, along with Brian Johnson and Glenn Pollner in New York.

Winston & Strawn LLP has remained wedded to the SPAC segment with a further stream of IPOs and other SPAC transactions, including de-SPAC deals, in 2021; it represented Fast Acquisition Corp on its business combination with Ferttita Entertainment. The SPAC practice now pervades multiple offices, including Chicago, New York and Houston, and covers multiple industry sectors. Chicago partner Carol Anne Huff and New York’s David Sakowitz  lead the capital markets team, with Houston managing partner Mike Blankenship also having a key role in major transactions. Former department head Christina Roupas and partner Courtney Tygesson left in 2021 to launch Cooley LLP ‘s new Chicago office.