Aymen Mahmoud > McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP provides ‘solutions-oriented advice’ to a lender-focused client base across a range of new money and refinancing cross-border transactions. While much of this relates to private credit in the leveraged space, under the leadership of Aymen Mahmoud the team has also developed some commercial/investment bank ties. The arrival in June 2024 of Christopher Kandel from Morrison Foerster is a major boost for the team in light of his borrower and lender-side credentials and involvement in many large-cap syndicated finance transactions during his career.

The ‘extremely responsive and knowledgeable’ team at McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP provides ‘very commercial and pragmatic’ advice to stakeholders in complex cross-border restructurings and insolvencies, often working alongside other offices in the firm’s network and complementary practice areas. Recognised as ‘a brilliant strategist’, Mark Fennessy is pivotal to the team’s success in the market, with a practice that ‘goes far beyond straightforward restructuring cases, to include often very difficult special situation scenarios’, as well as taking on a continued flow of work for the firm’s core client, a global debt administrator. Fennessy and Aymen Mahmoud co-head a team that also includes King’s Counsel Marcia Shekerdemian, who is a senior consultant at the firm.

‘Abreast of all the key mid-market and large-cap leveraged and corporate loan debt products’, including the requirements of the US market when financing European deals, McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP is a popular choice for funds as lenders and borrowers on domestic and cross-border deals utilising debt throughout the capital stack. ‘Outstandingly intelligent’ team head Aymen Mahmoud is ‘focused on efficient deal execution’ and is appreciated for his ‘pragmatic and solutions-driven’ service. Mark Fine is also a key member of the team and alongside Italian-qualified counsel Giulia Venanzoni provides ‘great strategic insights’ on leveraged finance deals. Christopher Kandel joined the team from Morrison Foerster in June 2024, as did John Burge.