Overview
Cecil is a London-based US partner who is a leading senior US capital markets practitioner in the London market. He became a partner in the New York office in 1996 and transferred to the London office in 2000. He works on a broad spectrum of securities and finance matters and has extensive experience in offerings of debt, equity, regulatory-capital and structured securities in established and emerging markets, as well as in liability management transactions and restructurings. He works extensively on strategic, transactional , compliance and disclosure matters with SEC reporting companies. Cecil has also gained significant experience in the financial-institutions sector through his membership of the Board of Directors of Lion Finance Group PLC (formerly Bank of Georgia Group PLC), the London-listed/FTSE-250-constituent holding company for the largest commercial bank in Georgia and a leading commercial bank in Armenia. He chairs the remuneration committee and previously served on the audit committee.
Work Highlights
- advising Rio Tinto on its US$9 billion 8-tranche SEC-registered notes offering and generally on all US-related disclosure and reporting issues and US capital-raising platforms
- advising Unilever on capital-markets aspects of its Magnum spin-off and on its recent SEC-registered offering of its US$1.75 billion dual-tranche senior notes, as well as all its SEC-registered offerings of debt securities and on US securities-law matters generally
- advising the underwriters on HSBC Holdings plc’s recent US$5 billion 3-tranche SEC-registered senior notes offering, its US$1.5 billion SEC-registered subordinated notes offering, its US$2 billion SEC-registered alternative tier 1 regulatory capital securities offering and all SEC-registered HSBC Holdings plc offerings of regulatory capital and debt securities
- advising the underwriters on Barclays PLC’s recent US$3.25 billion 3-tranche SEC-registered senior notes offering and all SEC-registered Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC offerings of regulatory capital and debt securities
- representing the underwriters for Santander UK Group plc’s recent US$2.75 billion SEC-registered senior notes offering, as well as on all SEC-registered offerings of debt securities
- advising the underwriters on the recent SEC-registered US$750 million notes offering by Diageo plc and all SEC-registered Diageo offerings of debt securities
- representing the lead managers on Nationwide Building Society’s US$2.05 billion three-tranche senior notes offering under Rule 144A and on US-facing capital-raising transactions by Nationwide generally
- representing Yellow Cake PLC in its recent placement of its AIM-listed ordinary shares and in multiple previous share placements
- representing Experian plc on its recent US$500 million notes offering and on all its previous yankee debt offerings and on US securities-law matters generally
- advising Prosus N.V. on its recent €750 million notes offering and on US securities-law matters generally
- advising the lead managers on Egypt’s recent US$1.5 billion sukuk offering and multiple other Rule 144A offerings of sovereign bonds, including Egypt’s US$3 billion senior notes offering in 2021 and its groundbreaking US$2 billion multi-tranche offering in 2020 (Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Middle East Sovereign Debt Deal of the Year)
- representing the initial purchasers on the Kingdom of Bahrain’s US$2.5 billion combined sukuk and notes offerings
- representing the lead managers on the US$700 million notes offering by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
- advising the lead managers on Nordea Bank’s recent Rule 144A offerings of US$850 million AT1 securities and US$1 billion senior notes and all US-facing offerings of Nordea Bank debt securities
- representing the lead managers on the US$2.2 billion Rule 144A offering of notes by Imperial Brands PLC and on US-facing capital-raising transactions by Imperial Brands generally.
- representing the lead managers on Air Baltic’s €340 million 14.5% Secured Bonds due 2029 (Rule 144A stress refinancing of pre-existing indebtedness of key regional airline)
- representing Energy Development Oman on its recent US$750 million Rule 144A sukuk offering (5.662% Trust Certificates due 2031) as well as its earlier debut US$1 billion Rule 144A sukuk (5.875% Trust Certificates due 2033) (Middle East Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Deal of the Year)
- advising the lead managers on Emirate of Abu Dhabi’s US$3 billion dual-tranche jumbo bond issuance and other relevant international capital raisings
- advising the lead managers on Serbia’s offering of US$1.5 billion 6% Notes due 2034 and previous US-facing bond offerings by Serbia
- representing the lead managers on London Stock Exchange Group plc’s US$1.25 billion dual-tranche bonds and previous US-facing offerings of debt securities by London Stock Exchange Group plc
- advising Allied Irish Bank plc on its US$1 billion Fixed to Floating Senior Notes due 2035 and all US-facing offerings of regulatory capital and debt securities and US securities-law matters generally
- advising Tate & Lyle PLC on US law aspects of its sale of its Primary Products and related businesses in North America and Latin America
- advising Omantel on its debut US$500 million Rule 144A sukuk (Sukuk Trust Certificates due 2031 (part-refinancing of Omantel’s secured notes which financed its acquisition of its stake in Zain Telecom))
- advising the initial purchasers on BT’s US$1 billion debut Rule 144A offering of hybrid capital securities
- advising Hong Kong Airport Authority on its US$1.5 billion debut US issuance of debt securities
- representing Assemblin on its €250 million senior secured floating-rate high-yield notes offering
- advising ALMEX as selling shareholder and Halyk Bank as issuer in connection with ALMEX’s US$344 million secondary offering of Halyk Bank GDRs
- advising, on a pro bono basis, the World Health Organization on securities-law and related issues associated with its involvement in the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF) and the funding of the PEF by the World Bank’s Catastrophe-Linked Capital at Risk Notes (IFLR Americas Structured Finance and Securitisation Deal of the Year)
- advising SAB Miller on US securities-law-related matters in connection with the AB InBev/SAB Miller acquisition
For Cecil's additional transactional experience, click here
Admissions