Anna Soroka > White & Case LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

White & Case LLP has seen a major restructuring of its high yield practice with the departures of Jill Concannon to Clifford Chance LLP and Gilles Teerlinck to Weil, Gotshal & Manges (London) LLP, and James Greene taking over as practice head. Greene, who is ‘able to navigate complex and stressful situations in a calm and efficient manner‘, counts JP Morgan, CVC Capital Partners and BNP Paribas among his clients. He advised joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners on a $420m notes offering by Mauritian telecommunications company Axian Telecom. Key partner Monica Holden, who handles bond transactions for issuers, sponsors and underwriters, and senior associate Anna Soroka ‘don’t hide behind the law, but give clear and concise advice, and understand what the client wants and what the commercial drivers are‘. In February 2024, Anthony Tama joined the firm from Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP.

‘Technically excellent as well as being very commercially aware‘, White & Case LLP continues to cement its place among the leading DCM groups in London, having successfully built on its presence in emerging markets and sovereign debt deals to create a fully rounded practice that handles standalone and MTN programmes, bank regulatory capital and corporate hybrids, private placements, project and green bonds, liability management, equity-linked instruments, and debt restructuring. ‘By far one of the best debt capital markets teams – smart, business-minded, focused and responsive‘, remarks a client. Standout partner Melissa Butler assisted Sweihan PV Power Company, the operator of the largest single-site solar project in the world, with its refinancing through the issuance of $700.8m in senior secured green bonds. Ian Clark represented the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine on a comprehensive liability management transaction that defers for two years Ukraine’s contractual obligation to make payments under approximately $25bn of bonds, GDP-linked warrants and sovereign-guaranteed debt obligations. Butler and the vastly experienced Stuart Matty acted for Bank Leumi in a $500m offering, which was the first  Rule 144A senior unsecured bond issued by an Israeli bank to international institutional investors. Richard Pogrel, who is ‘very strong in equity-linked deals‘, and Neha Saran advised Morgan Stanley on a $250m offering by Permanent TSB Group Holdings. Senior associate Anna Soroka also plays a central role in the practice.