IPO from the GC perspective – “a marathon and a sprint”

Neil Murrin, General Counsel and Director, Regulatory Affairs, Trainline PLC

On Friday 21 June 2019, City A.M. reported that “Trainline’s shares soared on their first day of trading today after the tech giant made its £1.7bn stock market debut. The train travel booking app priced its shares at 350p each in its initial public offering (IPO) today, to value the firm at £1.68bn.” Behind the headline lay many months, if not years, of preparation towards the event, which was very much the tip of the iceberg for the team that had worked on the deal. “A marathon not a sprint” is often said about bigger projects and whilst this is a good start to describe going through an IPO from a GC’s point of view, let me stretch the analogy a bit. In my view, it’s like “sprinting a marathon” and even then just to get to the start line. Let me explain…

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Finance Transport August 2021 Vol.14, No. 56, Summer 2021

Neil Murrin

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Neil Murrin (General Counsel and Director, Regulatory Affairs) Neil ensures Trainline can continue its rapid growth within the complexities and opportunities that technology, online retail and rail present internationally. With 15 years at Trainline and before that at Inmarsat (satellite communications) and London law firms, Neil sees the legal and regulatory functions as business enablers and encourages his team to be integrated into the heart of the business. It is this approach that were reflected in awards for the team such as Legal Week Innovation Awards 2019 and LexisNexis Legal Awards 2019 - In House Team of the Year – winners. Neil was also recognised on the Legal 500 GC Powerlist. Away from train travel, Neil enjoys cycling and running at weekends and has even tried his hand at a few triathlons (despite swimming like a brick). He recovers by time spent with family and keeping up with world news. His favourite rail journey is from Nice to Monaco, through the dark of the tunnels then the intermittent searing azure of the sea... Alternatively, Waterloo to West Byfleet in the rain as that means "home"!

Finance Transport August 2021 Vol.14, No. 56, Summer 2021