England - London • Finance
2

High yield

Linklaters LLP

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Linklaters LLP has ‘great expertise across the board and is very much on top of market developments, while being accessible’. Clients praise the ‘availability, competence, willingness to go the extra mile, and deep knowledge of market players and trends’. The firm is particularly active in private equity-sponsored M&A transactions. ‘They have outstanding technical skills but also are deeply commercial’, say clients of practice head Alexander Naidenov, who advised Triton portfolio company Crayfish on debt financing for its €1.2bn offer for Finnish company Caverion. Giacomo Reali – who provides ‘outstanding service’ – assisted initial purchasers of LimaCorporate’s €295m bond issuance. US partner Colin Chang also plays a key role in the practice, representing underwriters, issuers and private equity sponsors in high yield offerings. Former co-practice head Noel Hughes left the firm in December 2023.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Availability, competence, willingness to go the extra mile, deep knowledge of market players and trends, allowing to find the right commercial pressure points. Giacomo Reali conducted an outstanding service and led the team impeccably.’

  • 'The individuals in this team of Linklaters are one of a kind and unique as advisors in this field. Not only they have outstanding technical skills but also are deeply commercial and understand the situation and needs of the client. Their responses are quick and precise and always flexible on fees and billing.'

  • 'Great expertise across the board. All very much on top of market developments, while being accessible.'

  • 'Christianne Williams and Giacomo Reali are excellent - we primarily work with Christianne on liability management transactions.'

  • 'Very competent team, very proactive and excellent technical capabilities on the High Yield market. They provided interesting insights that helped to improve the outcome of the project. The team is always available and responsive. They were able to adapt themselves to our preferences, for instance regarding information sharing platforms, and other.'

  • 'The partner was deeply involved in all the key discussions with banks and their lawyers and he was always available promptly when I needed. This aspect was really a differential compared to competition - the availability and involvement of the partner were much better than competition in my point of view. Associates were very skilled and always very available and responsive.'

Key clients

  • LimaCorporate
  • Tereos
  • Cirsa
  • Tendam
  • Lottomatica
  • Haya Real Estate
  • Worldwide Flight Services
  • ZMI
  • Speira
  • Caverion
  • Sotheby’s
  • Europcar

Work highlights

  • Advised Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) - a portfolio company of Cerberus, on the refinancing of its €950 million debt and financing of tack-on acquisitions.
  • Advised Tereos on its high yield offering of €350m 7.25% senior notes due 2028, marking the first high yield transaction in the European market in 2023.
  • Advised the underwriters on Lottomatica’s (an Apollo portfolio company) €350 million high yield financing for future acquisitions.

Lawyers

Hall of Fame
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Alexander Naidenov
Hall of fameLinklaters LLP
Alexander Naidenov is a U.S. partner in our London office and focuses on high yield and acquisition finance. He was previously with Cravath Swaine & Moore in New York and London. Alek has extensive experience in sponsor-driven financings, representing underwriters, issuers/sponsors and bridge lenders, including AnaCap (AnaCap Financial), Apollo (Lottomatica, Gamenet, Verallia), Bain (Edcon), Bridgepoint (Miller Homes, THOM, Care UK), Carlyle (Hexaware, SierraCol), Cerberus (WFS, Haya), CVC (Multiversity, GEMS Education, Tendam), EQT (Dometic), Hillhouse (Philips Domestic Appliances), KKR (A.T.U), PAI (Marcolin, Nuance), Qualium (Quick Restaurants), Rhône (Fluidra, Nestle Waters, Eden Springs, S&B Minerals), Triton (Assemblin, Bormioli, Ovako, Dematic, Orion Engineered Carbons), Unitas (Hyva), Warburg Pincus (AA) Alek has also worked on a number event-driven corporate leverage financings, including Kedrion, AMS/Osram, Eir, VistaJet, Corte Inglés, Hertz, CGG Veritas, Welltec, Perform Group, Viridian, Moto, Johnston Press, Carmeuse, Interxion, Dixons, SICPA (NOMA), Millicom, Gallery Group Alek is also involved in high yield restructurings, on creditor or debtor side, including Haya, Seven Energy, Towergate, Klockner Pentaplast, Eircom, WIND Hellas, Countrywide, Almatis, Safilo, Jazztel, Hilding Anders, Truvo and DSI.
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Alexander Naidenov

Other key lawyers

Colin Chang, Christianne Williams, Giacomo Reali

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