The 'very commercial' team at Squire Patton Boggs, which is led from London by the 'exceptional' Paula Laird, remains a popular choice among a lender-focused client base across a wide range of ABL-related transactions, from both a bilateral and syndicated perspective. Many of these financing transactions utilise ABL debt in an event-driven scenario, where the team's ability to leverage its broader financial services prowess, as well as international practitioners across Continental Europe and the US, is a strong selling point on deals which typically involve complex inter-creditor arrangements and multi-jurisdictional considerations. As Laird herself devotes more time to her managerial role as head of banking across Europe and the Middle East, a good deal of the day-to-day involvement is handled by director Tom Dell’Avvocato in London and from Leeds by Tom Telford, who are both well-versed in a range of domestic and cross-border deals for clients including Wells Fargo.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'They have a strong market presence and understand our business well.'
- 'Superb product knowledge, super responsive and willing to invest in the relationship.'
- 'The team is very experienced and highly knowledgeable in the cross-border ABL space.'
- 'They have good understanding of ABL structures and practices, including innovative approaches that can be taken when putting together a multijurisdictional deal.'
- 'The team is very commercial and displays excellent attention to detail, additionally it works very well with its regional and international offices.'
- 'The exceptional Paula Laird is very experienced and knowledgeable.'
- 'Paula Laird is one the key figures of ABL in the London market.'
Key clients
- Apollo Global Management
- Lloyds Banking Group
- The Royal Bank of Scotland plc
- White Oak
- Wells Fargo
- HSBC
- ABN AMRO
- The PNC Financial Services Group Inc
- Gordon Brothers
- Aurelius
- Pretura Commercial Finance
- Arbuthnot Commercial Asset Based Lending Limited
- Breal Zeta Commercial Finance
- Endless LLP
- FGI Worldwide LLC
- Raiffeisen Bank International
- Deutsche Bank AG
- Callodine
- Leumi ABL
Work highlights
- Advised Callodine Commercial Finance LLC as agent in its first funding collaboration with Oldenburgische Landesbank AG (private equity backed by the Apollo group) on syndicated asset backed credit facilities to the NKD group – backed by TDR Capital.
- Advising Essar on various syndicated receivables purchase facilities provided by Cyrus Capital, Callodine Commercial Finance LLC, Artis Finance and JP Morgan; including structuring, drafting and negotiation of finance documents; and the completion of significant financing within compressed timeframe for the UKs second largest oil refinery, producing a sixth of the UKs petrol.
Lawyers
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Paula Laird