North America - United States • Finance

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

More informationMore information

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is best known for representing sponsor-backed companies in high-yield debt offerings, though it has a much broader practice for public companies and underwriters. The capital markets team is also noted for liability management and restructuring exercises, including Chapter 11 processes; this was an active area of practice for the team in 2023. New York partners Joshua KorffSophia Hudson and Christian Nagler are prominent names in debt offerings, along with Chicago partner Robert Hayward. Rachel Sheridan has joined the Washington DC office from Latham & Watkins LLP.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Key clients

  • Alight, Inc.
  • Allegion
  • Ares Management
  • At Home
  • Bed Bath & Beyond
  • Blue Owl Capital Inc.
  • Callon Petroleum Company
  • Carvana Co.
  • Charter Communications
  • Civitas Resources
  • Eli Lilly
  • GTCR
  • Intuitive Machines
  • John Deere
  • Kellogg
  • Kodiak Gas Services
  • Shoals Technologies Group
  • Vericast Corp.
  • Vista Equity Partners
  • WeWork

Work highlights

  • Advised Bed Bath & Beyond on multiple out-of-court transactions that allowed it to avoid what would have otherwise been an immediate free-fall Chapter 11 filing, which included an equity capital markets transaction.
  • Advised global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company on a four-tranche $4bn registered bond offering.
  • Advised WeWork on multiple transactions, including the comprehensive restructuring of its capital structure, reducing WeWork’s net debt by approximately $1.5bn.

Lawyers

Leading lawyers

Sophia Hudson

Sophia Hudson

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Sophia Hudson is a capital markets partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Sophia advises clients on SEC disclosure and compliance, governance and general corporate law matters, as well as the full range of capital markets transactions, including initial public offerings and follow-on equity offerings, public and private high-yield, investment-grade and convertible debt offerings and private placements of equity and convertible securities. She has extensive experience with foreign issuers and cross-border transactions. In 2023, Sophia was selected as one of Law360’s capital markets MVPs—one of the industry’s most coveted awards, bestowed upon leading lawyers for their involvement in record-breaking deals and complex global matters—for her work spearheading transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars for major companies such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Norwegian Cruise Line and WeWork, among numerous others. Her experience ranges across a variety of industries, including consumer goods, financials, industrials, life sciences, mining, retail, specialty pharmaceuticals and technology. She has also represented all the major U.S. investment banks.

Other key lawyers

Joshua Korff, Sophia Hudson, Christian Nagler, Robert Hayward, Rachel Sheridan