On 27 June Cake Box was admitted to AIM. Cake Box is a UK company which specialises in sponge cakes. The egg-free nature of their recipes allows the company to target a larger potential market which includes those whose allergies or religious requirements prevent them from eating most cakes. Since its launch in East London in 2008, the business has grown to 91 stores and its current target is to expand its estate to 250 stores.

The IPO process is very demanding of a management team, with several concurrent work-streams. Any company considering listing on a public market must undergo both a detailed legal and financial due diligence process, designed to stress test the company’s operations and address any issues arising. The company is likely to have to amend its corporate structure or constitution to ensure that it is suitable for admission to trading on a public market. These background processes are vital but management teams may not be conversant with them; their focus tends to be on the marketing of the IPO to potential investors. Our team worked closely with the Cake Box founders and other advisers to ensure that each element of the IPO process was given sufficient attention and that the IPO timetable was met.

Advisers to a company on an IPO must also look beyond admission and make sure that the company as a whole understands the additional demands of a public company, for example implementing robust business and corporate governance systems.

Cake Box had a large shareholder base prior to admission to AIM and a key element of the IPO process was communicating successfully with Cake Box’s shareholders and franchisees. The IPO process was well supported by shareholders and franchisees alike and, unusually, some 60 people attended the opening ceremony at the London Stock Exchange to celebrate Cake Box’s success.

Corporate Partner Andrew Clarke commented: “It was great to work with founders Sukh Chamdal and Pardip Dass on the IPO. The company is growing rapidly and the IPO is the next chapter of its terrific story. To do a successful IPO, a founder-run company like Cake Box has to go through some very hard testing but with our help Cake Box passed with flying colours; even better we ate lots of delicious cream cakes along the way.”

CEO Sukh Chamdal said: “Charles Russell Speechlys were fantastic and worked tirelessly on the IPO which was completed to the exact timetable we planned with Shore Capital at the outset. I would recommend Andrew, Paul and Emily to any entrepreneurs thinking about an IPO. They certainly know how to get you there.”

CFO Pardip Dass said: “An IPO like this involves a great deal of detailed work and diligence. The Charles Russell Speechlys team put us under the microscope, but we enjoyed the examination and we are thrilled that the company’s shares are now publicly traded on AIM.”

In the first half of 2018 Charles Russell Speechlys has worked on a range of AIM transactions, a list of which can be found here. The firm is currently ranked 14th in the AIM Adviser Rankings Guide, which ranks law firms with the most AIM clients.

The Charles Russell Speechlys team consisted of Corporate Partners Andrew Clarke and Paul Arathoon, Corporate Associate Emily Dobson and Corporate Trainee Jed Wilsher.