Incorporation assists Mourant with further expansion

11/10/2004

Mourant, the international professional and financial services firm, announces that it has reorganised its ownership structure from a partnership to a company called Mourant Limited. All the assets of the former Mourant Group partnership have been transferred to the new company in return for the issuance of shares in Mourant Limited to the former Mourant Group partners.

Shares have also been issued to a number of Mourant senior executives and an award of shares has been announced for every employee under a newly established Employee Share Plan.

The change of ownership structure is to assist Mourant to continue with its recent and successful expansion into new business sectors and in new territories.

Mourant du Feu & Jeune, the Jersey and Cayman law firms, will continue to operate as partnerships of lawyers with unlimited liability. All the equity partners of Mourant du Feu & Jeune are shareholders in Mourant Limited.

The principal benefits of incorporation for Mourant are:

• An enhanced ability to attract and retain talent from diverse professional backgrounds and in a range of locations as the business continues to develop
• Aligning individual performance more closely with financial incentives at all levels of the business through equity participation
• A structure in which new strategic developments of the fast-growing business are easier to execute, maintaining the commercial agility that has been a hallmark of Mourant’s growth to date
• A wider choice of financing options to facilitate further expansion and investment in major capital projects.

Nicola Davies, Mourant’s Chief Executive, said:

"Today’s announcement reflects Mourant’s belief that aligning the interests of every employee with our corporate aims will further enhance our performance and development.

"Granting shares reinforces our recognition of the value of the people in our organisation and underlines our commitment to transparency and inclusion within the business.

"Following our successful diversification over recent years, our incorporation establishes a framework to encourage further expansion. It will facilitate investment in capital projects and make it easier to recruit senior people in new jurisdictions.

"We are confident that our clients will react positively to our incorporation because of the impact it will have on our ability to attract the best talent in the global market place."

Mourant Chairman, Ian James, commented:

"We’re looking forward to the challenge of retaining the best of the partnership culture that has served Mourant so well over the years whilst embracing the advantages of the wider share ownership model used by many of our most successful clients."