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The Lawyer Awards 2014: Finance Team of the Year Award sponsored by Duke and Rawson - Shortlisted Firms

24/06/2014

An impressive group of UK and US firms have been shortlisted for the 2014 Finance Team of the Year Award, which Duke and Rawson are proud to sponsor as part of The Lawyer Awards 20th Anniversary ceremony.

The shortlisted firms are Linklaters, Shearman & Sterling, Reed Smith, Allen & Overy, Simmons & Simmons, Mills & Reeve and Kirkland & Ellis.  Each firm has been shortlisted on the basis of their innovative approach to major financing transactions over the past 12 months, a period in which firms were able to capitalise on the opportunities emerging out of a more positive global economic climate.

Linklaters have been praised for their £1.5bn recapitalisation of the Co-operative Bank, the first voluntary bail-in of a British bank without the need for state assistance.

Shearman & Sterling have gained recognition for their work on Piraeus Bank’s €8.4bn recapitalisation, the largest in Greek financial history.

Reed Smith are highlighted for their part in advising upon the Eurosail residential mortgage-backed securitisation transactions, which were originally arranged by Lehman Brothers and carried a combined debt of exceeding £2.4bn.

Allen & Overy also advised on a ground-breaking securitisation with its client Elenia, unique in that it was the first non-UK utility company to undergo a whole-business securitisation to raise debt in the capital markets.

Simmons & Simmons have been shortlisted due to their work advising the Royal Bank of Canada on the first European unwrapped project bond, which was issued by the University of Hertfordshire’s student accommodation arm.

Mills & Reeve are also recognised for their work in the higher-education sector, having advised 18 colleges from the University of Cambridge on a first-of-its-kind aggregated debt structure.

Kirkland & Ellis have garnered praise for advising on the combination of six packaging businesses based across 18 jurisdictions to form Exopack Holdings, which is now the sixth largest plastic packaging company in the world.  To achieve this, the firm utilised an innovative combination of a bond sitting alongside an asset-based loan facility in Europe.

Presenting the award on the evening itself will be Aman Mahal, founder and Managing Director of Duke and Rawson, and a former banking and finance lawyer himself at SJ Berwin (now King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin).

Duke and Rawson would like to offer its congratulations to all of the shortlisted firms and the teams involved.

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