Private Credit & Direct Lending
About
We are one of the few international law firms with dedicated Private Credit & Direct Lending capability. Our clients cover the full spectrum of the private credit market and include performing and distressed credit funds, sovereign wealth funds, alternative capital providers and in-house bank direct lending teams. Our offering is unique due to our comparative strength across all major North American, European and Asia-Pacific markets.
We have significant experience implementing direct lending strategies, including "buy-and-hold" and partial syndication, and cover the full range of loans from performing credit (whether senior, stretched-senior, unitranche or junior, including second lien, mezzanine and PIK loans/notes and preferred equity investments) through to special situations lending and rescue financing.
With a strong track record in the large-cap and middle-market spaces, we are well versed in the prevailing terms, nuances and challenges our clients may encounter. Our record acting across the mature middle-market direct lending universe as well as the maturing large-cap direct lending universe is second to none. Unlike other firms, we offer a 'specialist' direct lending offering alongside market-leading syndicated and high yield offerings, so that our direct lending lawyers are well versed in the latest market developments in all areas of leveraged finance. Our leanly staffed deal teams are committed to providing efficient and cost-effective services for all aspects of the lending transaction and our dedicated lawyers allow our clients to compete on tight timelines in a quickly evolving marketplace. This commercial approach combined with our expertise and market knowledge justifies our pre-eminent standing with both lenders and sponsors.
Visit our Financial Institutions page
View all lawyers in Private Credit & Direct Lending
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
"White & Case is a market-leading offering in private credit, benefiting from up-to-date syndicated market insights from the banking team," adding: "The firm has a talented bench of associates and senior associates supporting the partners."
Chambers & Partners: UK – Banking & Finance, 2022
"They are the best and we use them for everything we can. They see a ton of transactions across a wide range of deal and counterparty types and have a great, up-to-the-minute sense of where the market is on various non-price terms and how transactions are evolving. The partners are responsive and involved; they roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty on actual work."
Legal 500 US: – Finance – Commercial Lending – Advice to Lenders, 2022
"Unique mix of knowledge of European private credit experience and profound knowledge of local Benelux markets."
Legal 500 Belgium: – Banking, Finance & Capital Markets, 2022
"Their main strength is client-centricity to get work done and then tackle subsequent ancillary issues. They meet stringent timelines and deliver quality work." "The Hong Kong finance team is always extremely responsive, helpful, and commercial."
Chambers & Partners: Asia-Pacific – Banking & Finance, 2022
Experience
Centerbridge Partners, Oaktree
Representation of Centerbridge Partners, Oaktree and others in connection with a £400 million refinancing and upsizing of existing credit facilities for the Odeon Cinemas Group.
Golub Capital
Representation of Golub Capital on the growth financing to CloudSense, a Vector Capital portfolio company.
Ares Capital Management
Representation of Ares Capital Management on the unitranche financing supporting the acquisition of Aston Lark, the UK's largest independent insurance broker, by Goldman Sachs PIA.
Bridgepoint
Representation of a private credit fund as unitranche lender in connection with a US$295 million term and revolving unitranche refinancing facility for Bridgepoint portfolio company, HKA Global, the largest risk management and claims consulting business for the construction industry.
BlackRock
Representation of funds managed by BlackRock as lenders in a private credit fund level financing to an Asia-based private equity fund.
Macquarie Real Asset and Infrastructure Fund
Representation of lenders to Macquarie Real Asset and Infrastructure Fund on a US$300 million capital call facility.
Asian credit fund
Representation of an Asian credit fund in relation to a subscription facility underwritten by a major French bank.
Blackstone Credit
Representation of Blackstone Credit in connection with a US$130 million senior secured financing for Gibson Brands, a multinational manufacturer of musical instruments and professional audio equipment headquartered in Tennessee. Blackstone Credit's financing package included a US$60 million international term loan made to Gibson's Hong Kong subsidiary and a US$70 million "last-out" term loan made under an amended and restated ABL credit agreement in favor of Gibson and certain of its US and Dutch subsidiaries.
Deutsche Bank Direct Lending
Representation of Deutsche Bank Direct Lending in connection with a secured term loan and revolving credit facility to fund the acquisition of Summit Broadband by Grain Management. Summit is a Florida-based fiber-optic telecommunications provider.
Churchill Asset Management
Representation of Churchill Asset Management, as lead arranger and bookrunner, in connection with a term loan in an aggregate principal amount of US$122.5 million and a revolving credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of US$20 million for the financing of New Mountain Partners' acquisition of HealthScape Advisors and Pareto Intelligence, a leading healthcare management consulting firm.
