Big Four Japanese law firm Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu has clinched a key advisory role as domestic counsel to Japan Airlines (JAL) on its IPO next month, which is expected to raise about 663 billion yen ($8.5 billion).

JAL’s offering is set to be the world’s second-largest this year, eclipsed only by Facebook’s $16 billion float in May. 

According to the prospectus, Sullivan & Cromwell is U.S. counsel to JAL, while Anderson Mori & Tomotsune and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett are advising the international joint lead managers – Daiwa Capital Markets Europe, Merrill Lynch International, and Morgan Stanley & Co International.

JAL will relist on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Sept. 19, having rebounded sharply from its bankruptcy filing in 2010, when it had more than $25 billion in debt. Following a state-backed $11 billion injection, the carrier has emerged as the most profitable airline in the world, reports Reuters.

JAL is expected to confirm the final IPO price on Sept. 10 after weighing up investor demand during a one-week book-building period. A quarter of its 175 million shares will be placed overseas, with the remainder going to Japanese investors.

Kanishk Verghese is North Asia journalist at ALB. Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.

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