Linklaters LLP

Nick is a market-leading leveraged finance specialist. He acted on his first leveraged buyout in 1988, he set up the firm’s leveraged finance practice in 2001 with Gideon Moore and he was Co-Head of the Leveraged Finance Practice until 2016. Nick was elected by the Partners to the firm’s supervisory board for consecutive terms and he remains on the firm’s audit committee. He is also the firm’s Health and Wellbeing Partner. Within his practice, he advises arranging banks on financial sponsor-backed leveraged finance transactions and coordinating bank and steering committees on debt restructurings. He also advises on bank/bond financings. Nick has been involved in a number of pioneering developments in the leveraged finance sector, most recently acting for the underwriters on the financings for both the acquisition of Coty and the bid for MasMovil, being the financing transactions that reopened the European leveraged loan market post Covid19 and, prior to that, on a number of transactions that established and evolved the European cov-lite leveraged loan product. He has also acted on some of the early “Opco/Propco” financings (in which the finance is divided between operating companies and property-owning businesses), regulatory life insurance arbitrage transactions, transactions involving hedging uneven cashflows, infrastructure acquisition financings and numerous debt restructuring transactions. Nick was based in Singapore for two years where he focused on, and developed his knowledge of, regional debt restructuring.

Oliver brings significant experience in structuring and executing sponsor-backed leveraged acquisition finance transactions in the European market. Oliver’s particular focus is acting for financial sponsors on leveraged buy-outs across the capital structure. Oliver is the co-head of Linklaters’ Leveraged Finance practice. He has been a partner since 2016 and joined Linklaters’ banking team in 2006. Before joining the firm, Oliver worked for Allens, Linklaters’ integrated alliance partner in Australia.

Chris advises bank and fund clients on cross-border debt financings, refinancings and restructurings. He has a particular focus on sponsor-backed leveraged acquisition finance and routinely works on the largest and most complex sponsor-backed financing structures in the European leverage finance market, including term loan B financings, bank and bond structures, unitranche financings and post-IPO financings. Chris frequently works with, and is well known to, leading underwriting banks on underwritten term loan B financings and is likewise well known to direct lenders on unitranche financings. Chris was previously seconded to the leveraged finance and high-yield teams of JP Morgan and Citibank, which gives him a deep understanding of the internal workings of origination, credit and execution teams, allowing him to provide practical and tailored advice to bank, fund and sponsor clients. He also spent two years on secondment to the firm’s Madrid office and speaks Spanish.

Rohan has a wide range of experience advising banks and credit funds across the credit spectrum on a number of products with primary focus on financial sponsor backed cross-border debt financings. He has worked on various financing structures and products, and is particularly well versed with incurrence based term loan B financings, unitranche / direct lending structures, super-senior revolving credit facilities, bank/bond structures and junior/subordinated credit products. He has advised creditors on some of the largest and most complex European leveraged finance transactions in the past few years. Rohan was seconded to the leveraged finance team at Credit Suisse in 2018 and is able to use the experience gained on the secondment to provide practical and tailored advice to bank and fund clients. Rohan is one of the diversity and inclusion champions in the banking department in London and is focused on promoting under-represented diverse talent within the firm. Rohan joined Linklaters in 2011 and joined the banking team in 2013.

Pathik has a wide range of experience advising arranging banks, credit funds, financial sponsors and corporates across the credit spectrum on leveraged and acquisition financings (both syndicated and private debt), infrastructure financings, NAV financings and restructurings. He has a particular focus on sponsor-backed and cross-border leveraged finance and acquisition financing structures, having worked on several covenant-lite TLB financings, direct lending / unitranche structures, infrastructure financings, NAV financings, bridge financings, public acquisition financings, bank / bond financing structures and financial restructurings.