Ropes & Gray LLP‘s practice spans the gamut of lender- and borrower-side commercial lending matters, with particular expertise in assisting private equity borrowers seeking to undertake leveraged buyouts and obtain asset-based loans. The borrower-side arm of the practice is spearheaded by New York’s Stefanie Birkmann, a specialist in syndicated finance structures, and Boston-based Michael Lee, who assists borrowers in arranging facilities ranging from mezzanine to bridge finance facilities. Also in Boston, Byung Choi is an expert in debt and asset financings, advising a number of private equity houses in this regard. On the lender side, the practice assists credit providers with the initial structuring of finance facilities, including hybrid debt and equity loans, and is noted for advising private credit providers. Taking the lead on lender-side matters are Jeffrey Katz, who splits their time between Boston and New York and advises on special situations investments, and Leonard Klingbaum, based in New York and adding expertise in the restructuring of credit facilities.

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Key clients

  • Harvest Partners/VetCor
  • Frontier Communications Parent Inc.
  • Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe
  • Samsonite International S.A.
  • Advent International/Warburg Pincus
  • Seagate Technology Holdings
  • TPG Capital LP
  • Berkshire Partners
  • Trinseo PLC
  • US Merchants LLC
  • Rodan & Fields
  • American Industrial Partners
  • TSG Consumer Partners/Duckhorn portfolio
  • Cirque du Soleil
  • GHO Capital Partners/Vistria Group
  • New Mountain Capital LLC
  • HIG Capital
  • Ad hoc group of bondholders of Exela Technologies
  • Blackstone Group
  • Ad hoc group of second lien lenders of Yak Access
  • Ad hoc group of first lien lenders of K&N Parent Inc
  • Ad hoc group of Quotient
  • Ad hoc group of first lien lenders to Instant Brands Holdings Inc.
  • Checkers Ad Hoc Committee
  • Ad Hoc group of lenders to Westmoreland Coal
  • Cyrus Capital Partners LP/Keyframe Capital Partners LP

Work highlights

  • Represented VetCor in connection with obtaining $4.2bn of senior secured credit facilities and holdco notes to finance the acquisition of People, Pets and Vets and to refinance existing debt.
  • Represented Frontier Communications in connection with the extension of $850m in revolving credit commitments and financing related aspects of its $2.1bn securitization to finance the build out of its fiber offerings.
  • Represented Advent International and Warburg Pincus in their $4.25bn joint acquisition of BioPharma Solutions.

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Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Stefanie Birkmann, Michael Lee, Jeff Katz, Leonard Klingbaum