Corporate and acquisition financing
Freshfields’ corporate and acquisition finance team offers innovative solutions that shape the biggest and most complex transactions worldwide.
Freshfields drives the development of new products and innovative documentation across the most significant and intricate transactions and financing objectives. Our technical expertise and depth of market understanding, augmented by sector specialisms and the versatility of our lawyers, allow us to provide tailored, commercial advice that is truly on-market and gets the deal done.
Our team has a wealth of experience advising on event-driven financings (including acquisitions, IPOs and demergers), refinancings and corporate treasury matters across the credit spectrum.
We advise on bank and private capital-funded facilities in all their forms, from simple bilateral facilities for working capital needs to the largest and most complex syndicated term and revolving facilities involving a combination of bank, structured finance and capital markets debt and in a variety of different contexts.
We are also widely recognised as a market leader in debt capital markets offerings. We advise issuers across the credit range from a variety of sectors on a broad range of debt transactions, encompassing a variety of structures and listed on a range of stock exchange markets. We have a well-established and well-respected team who advise on investment grade wholesale bond issues (including Yankee bonds and private placement notes), genuine retail bond issues, debt issuance programmes (Reg S and Rule 144A), liability management transactions, high yield bonds and equity-linked instruments.
Recent client successes
Acting for GXO on UK funds aspects of its acquisition facilities for the take-private acquisition of Clipper Logistics.
The financing for the acquisition consisted of a $500m term facility agreement and a $665m bridge facility agreement.
Advising RWE on the financing of the $6.8bn (enterprise value) acquisition of Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, the issuance of a mandatory convertible note to a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority, and the signing of an investor agreement.
Advising Global Infrastructure Partners on the acquisition of WPD Offshore from WPD and subsequent refinancing, further expanding GIP’s renewables portfolio.
As offshore project developer and independent renewables power producer (IRPP), WPD Offshore is active in various European and Asia-Pacific markets.
AstraZeneca on its $39bn acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals and related $17.5bn bridge-financing facility.
A consortium, led by FountainVest and HK-listed ANTA Sports Products, on the public takeover and privatisation of Amer Sports, including advising the consortium on the €4.2bn debt financing package used to finance the offer (comprising €2.2bn raised in the Asian bank market and €2bn in the European TLB market).
As a leading offshore project developer and independent renewables power producer (IRPP), wpd offshore GmbH is active in various European and Asia-Pacific markets. With this investment, GIP further expands its renewables portfolio, noting offshore wind will be critical to net zero carbon targets and energy transition goals.