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.
Experience
- 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
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