Corporate and Structured Lending

With over 70 partners worldwide and a broad mix of lender and corporate clients, Linklaters banking practice is at the forefront of developments and recent trends in the loan markets.

We rank in the top tiers of the legal directories in many of the world’s most important jurisdictions. Our ability to draw on our equally top-ranked capital markets, M&A and commercial practices means we offer our clients a critical competitive advantage for event driven and multi tiered financings.

Our banking practice brings together leading specialists with experience of advising on a wide range of the most complex and high profile transactions of recent times, including event driven financings, bridges to bond and equity take-outs, structured financings, revolving credits and amendments and waivers through to full restructurings.

Linklaters’ experts have been involved in the development of standard market documentation by the Loan Market Association and are constantly at the forefront of developments in this area.

Recent experience includes advising:

Borrower side:

  • Glencore on the financing for its joint venture with Qatar Investment Authority to acquire 70% of Rosneft
  • Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. in relation to the US$4bn financing of its proposed acquisition of Mattress Firm Holding Corp
  • Sibanye Gold Limited on the US$2.7bn bridge loan for its proposed acquisition of Stillwater Mining Company
  • Reckitt Benckiser on its US$21bn financing put together for its acquisition of Mead Johnson
  • a number of leading corporates including Jimmy Choo, Nando’s, Caffè Nero and Paddy Power on multiple financings
  • Amec Foster Wheeler plc on the £1.7bn refinancing of the Amec Foster Wheeler Group
  • Travis Perkins plc on its £550m multicurrency revolving credit facility agreement
  • Vodafone Group plc as borrower on a series of three US$1bn bilateral facilities provided by SMBC, BTMU and Mizuho
  • Glencore on various financings, including:
    • Glencore Agri Finance B.V. as borrower and Glencore Agriculture Limited and Glencore Agriculture Pte. Ltd. As original guarantors on a US$2.5bn revolving syndicated facility
    • Glencore International AG on the US$1.2bn amendment and restatement of a Swiss metals borrowing base facility
    • Glencore International AG as borrower in relation to a US$1bn limited recourse prepayment facility agreement coordinated by Deutsche Bank, Natixis, and Société Genéralé       
    • Unilever plc as borrower on the standby bilateral facilities for Unilever plc, Unilever N.V., Unilever Capital Corporation and Unilever Finance International BV
    • AT&T Inc, as borrower in connection with a US$12bn unsecured syndicated credit facility

Lender side:

  • HSBC Bank plc as global co-ordinator, mandated lead arranger and underwriter of US$20bn loan facilities in connection with the all cash tender offer intended by ChemChina for the shares of Syngenta AG
  • a syndicate of 16 banks on the €1.7bn post-IPO financing for Philips Lighting N.V.
  • Lloyds Bank plc, Bank of America Merrill Lynch International Limited, HSBC Bank plc and J.P. Morgan on US$1.25bn senior term and revolving facilities in connection with Melrose's proposed acquisition of Nortek, Inc
  • Morgan Stanley and another bank on the US$18bn term and revolving facilities for Shire plc on the acquisition of Baxalta, Inc.
  • Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley on the US$5.6bn term facilities for Shire plc on the acquisition of Dyax Corp.
  • the co-ordinator on acquisition facilities for A.P. Møller Mærsk’s €3.7bn acquisition of Hamburg Süd
  • the lenders on US$1.75bn post-IPO facilities for Philips Lighting as well as multiple bridge and core revolving credit facilities for Royal Philips
    Lloyds Bank plc, Bank of America Merrill Lynch International Limited,HSBC Bank plc and J.P. Morgan on the US$1.25bn senior term and revolving facilities in connection with Melrose’s proposed acquisition of Nortek, Inc
  • Glencore Finance Limited in its capacity as lender and agent in relation to an increase and extension of two existing facility agreements for Katanga Mining Limited
  • Bank of America Merrill Lynch International Limited in connection with a €4bn bridge facility to finance in part the proposed amicable public offer by Safran in respect of Zodiac Aerospace
  • Sberbank of Russia and Citibank in relation to a restructuring of their existing sovereign-guaranteed loans in Ukraine
  • the lenders, led by The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, in respect of a €1.4bn revolving credit facility and a €350m revolving credit facility for DONG Energy A/S as the borrower and Nordea Bank AB as the agent
  • the arrangers in connection with a €2.52bn revolving credit facility agreement entered into by Safran