Walkers' Dublin team leverages the firm's wider global network to assist with large cross-border financings, fund finance and structured finance work. The group has seen an increase in instructions from banks and funds operating in real estate finance, as well as advising on distressed transactions and loan portfolio deals. Co-head of the finance and capital markets group Andrew Traynor is hugely experienced in fund finance work, which is also a recognised area of expertise for Ian McNamee. Team co-head Noeleen Ruddy counts structured finance, non-performing loan sales and workouts as core strengths.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Pragmatic, service oriented and well regarded real estate finance and banking practice. ’

  • ‘The team around Andrew Traynor is very practical-oriented, reliable and fast.'

  • ‘Andrew Traynor convinces through his pragmatic and practice-oriented consulting. His very good availability and flexibility should be emphasised.’

  • ‘Walkers has a first-class funds and fund financing team which can close a deal on time and on budget and guide foreign clients through the process with consummate professionalism.’

  • ‘I work with 2 partners, Paddy Rath and Ian McNamee and they are a very collegiate pair who are very good at covering for each other so that there is a seamless delivery. Their knowledge of Irish fund financing structures is excellent too, which gives private equity clients from outside the jurisdiction a great level of comfort.’

  • ‘The Walkers team are professional, thorough and extremely well versed on Irish law which is the input we specifically required. They were able to distinguish what was historical market standards but more importantly, how the market had moved. This ensured that our documentation was complete and up to date.’

  • ‘The individuals we worked with were a pleasure to deal with, striking the perfect balance between being professional and personable. They were knowledgeable and confident and were firm but pleasant when dealing with opposing counsel on all party calls. I would recommend this team again.’

  • ‘We have a great relationship with the Walkers team who always have the time to walk through docs and provide advice as and when it's required. Very flexible when exceptional requests are made and clearly have an in depth knowledge of the industry and industry standards.’

Key clients

  • AIB Bank
  • Albacore Capital LLP
  • Apollo Management
  • Avia Solutions Group
  • Bank of America N.A
  • Bank of America Europe DAC
  • Barclays Bank
  • Barings
  • Citibank
  • Creditshelf AG
  • Deutsche Bank AG
  • DTZ Investors
  • Eagle Street Partners
  • Hertz
  • HSBC Bank
  • Iceland International Seafood, Oceanpath and Carr & Sons
  • Investec
  • Irish League of Credit Unions
  • Nuveen Real Estate Limited
  • Macquarie Bank
  • Man Group

Work highlights

  • Acted as Irish counsel to Nuveen Real Estate / TIAA concerning a green loan facility to finance to a major US hedge fund for the acquisition and development of a large residential development of 295 apartments in the Greater Dublin area.
  • Acted as Irish counsel in connection with the establishment of a €100m off-balance sheet trade receivables financing platform for Swissport International AG.
  • Acted as Irish counsel in relation to the establishment of a €140m funding structure established by Creditshelf AG.

Lawyers

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Andrew Traynor, Noeleen Ruddy

Other key lawyers

Ian McNamee, Paddy Rath