Melissa Butler > White & Case LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

‘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.

At White & Case LLP, clients appreciate ‘the exceptional combination of competence, expertise, responsiveness and friendliness which provides for an outstanding client experience‘. The firm is active in emerging markets across the globe in work streams as diverse as project finance, bond issuance, corporate transactions and sovereign-related advisory work. ‘Particularly important is their deep bench of EMEA experienced US counsel‘, among them US-qualified debt specialists Melissa Butler and Ian Clark, who work closely with English debt finance experts James Hardy and Stuart Matty. Clark handled a major liability management transaction for the the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. Project development and finance partner Mark Castillo-Bernaus, international finance partner Jason Kerr. Banking partner Christopher Czarnocki, energy partner Philip Stopford and head of the Africa group Mukund Dhar are also heavily involved in emerging market transactions. Senior associate Judith Olloh is highly recommended for energy, infrastructure and project finance. EMEA Head of Project Development and Finance Michael Watson worked with Butler and a strong team of associates to assist Sweihan PV Power Company with the refinancing of the Noor Abu Dhabi solar PV plant through $700m in green bonds. Mining and metals partner Rebecca Campbell is ‘commercially and technically brilliant‘.