A&O Shearman

Building from an already market-leading practice at legacy firm Allen & Overy, post-merger A&O Shearman is an even more compelling offering, particularly for sponsor clients, given its enhanced US presence and pedigree. The arrival of Shameer Shah through the merger also strengthens the firm’s creditor-side credentials, particularly regarding private credit, which bolsters a market-leading banking offering. Nicholas Clark has deep ties with many leading banks and regularly advises banking syndicates on big-ticket leveraged finance mandates. Denise Gibson also has excellent market knowledge, enabling her to effectively advise both traditional lenders as well as credit funds as lenders on high-value sponsor-backed deals. On the borrower front, Neil Sinha is ‘very close to the market’ and consequently ’gets the best terms’ for financial sponsors, recently on refinancings and repricings as well as new money M&A deals including those implementing bank and bond structures and accessing the TLB market. Other key lawyers include Matt Moore, who excels at advising lenders on leveraged finance and structured growth market transactions; private equity-focused debt finance expert Robin Harvey; and Annette Kurdian, who acts for lenders in the crossover of leveraged and infrastructure finance. Former private capital sector lead Philip Bowden  joined Proskauer Rose LLP in July 2024.