Manulife IPO Largest in Canadian History

On September 23rd, Manulife Financial Corporation became a demutualized company. Common shares were issued to over 650,000 policyholders around the world. This was followed by the closing of Manulife’s Cdn.$2.5 billion IPO on September 30, the largest IPO in Canadian history. The common shares of Manulife now trade on stock exchanges in Toronto, New York, Montreal, Hong Kong and the Philippines. A large team of lawyers at Tory Haythe have been acting for Manulife on this transaction since November, 1997. The core team included Brian Davis, Blair Keefe, Bill Charnetski, Antonella Deo, David Seville and Michael Amm. U.S. counsel to the company was Debevoise & Plimpton. Acting for the underwriters were LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, LLP, in the U.S. and Davies, Ward & Beck in Canada.