The Legal 500

A&L Goodbody’s formula of finance expertise and corporate muscle ensures a market-leading practice led by the ‘excellent’ Ciaran Rogers. He is ably supported by colleagues including the experienced Peter Murray and John Given, who are debt and equity specialists respectively. The firm advised Escher Group on an AIM listing – a rare occurrence for Irish companies in recent years – and acted for key client Jazz Pharmaceuticals on its IPO on NASDAQ and secondary offering.

Arthur Cox’s ‘top-quality’ practice spans the debt and equity markets. Its dedicated debt team includes the ‘hugely experienced’ Cormac Kissane, who led advice on the €500m bond issue by Irish building giant CRH. On the equity side, the firm acted for Cooper Industries on its $11.8bn recommended cash and shares acquisition by Eaton Corporation, via scheme of arrangement, and advised Alkermes Inc on its $399m underwritten offering of 19% of its issued share capital. The firm’s Russian desk is led by debt specialist Glenn Butt, who is ‘capable of coming up with alternative solutions to make a deal work’.

Matheson is a consistently strong performer for both debt and equity work. Its specialist structured finance and derivatives group, which is led by Turlough Galvin, acted for Nomura International on 14 separate transactions under its structured notes issuance programme, while equity deals included advising Eaton Corporation on the corporate finance aspects of its $11.8bn recommended acquisition of Cooper Industries and proposed listing of the resultant entity on the NYSE. George Brady heads the equity team, which is ‘comparable to main international law firms’.

McCann FitzGerald stands out for its ‘high level of service, business acumen and industry knowledge’, and clients also praise its consistently good quality. The capital markets practice acted for Kenmare Resources on its $60m cash placing of 120 million new ordinary shares via accelerated bookbuild and was Irish counsel on Deutsche Bank’s £302m commercial mortgage backed securitisation. Barry Devereux and Roy Parker head the equity and debt capital markets teams, respectively, and are recommended along with Fergus Gillen.

William Fry’s 16-partner practice is led by the ‘always excellent’ managing partner Myra Garrett for equity capital markets and by finance lawyer Elaine Hanly on the debt side. ‘Each lawyer has an absolute command of their speciality’ and is ‘a pleasure to work with’, including Owen O’Connell, Bryan Bourke and Martin Phelan. The firm acted for Barclays as security trustee of INEOS Finance plc’s $1.65bn bond issue.

Dillon Eustace advises on the full range of debt and equity finance, and clients include AIG and Monarch Alternative Investment. Conor Houlihan heads the debt practice, and managing partner Mark Thorne leads on equity matters.

Maples and Calder’s head of finance Nollaig Murphy, who ‘quickly gets to grips with any situation thrown at him’, led advice to the note-holders during the Quinn Group restructuring. Other clients include Guggenheim Investments, which the firm advised on its issuance of a $1.2bn collateralised loan obligation; and FleetMatics Group, which the team is advising on its IPO, the first listing on the NYSE by an Irish company in a decade.

Mason Hayes & Curran handles equity transactions via its strong corporate practice. Justin McKenna advised Terra Energy’s shareholders on its reverse takeover of Sterling Green (subsequently renamed Fastnet Oil and Gas), which included a £10m share placement. Paul Egan heads the practice.

Debt capital markets is the focus of Walkers’ flourishing practice, where Garry Ferguson and Noeleen Ruddy provide ‘efficient, extremely responsive and technically excellent advice’, and are ‘a pleasure to deal with’. The team acted for SCOR, AON Benfield Securities and Natixi on a significant placement of new catastrophe bonds through its Irish vehicle Atlas VI Capital. Other clients include BNY Mellon and Deutsche Bank.

ByrneWallace has capital markets capability within its corporate team. Colin Sainsbury advised Merrion Pharmaceuticals, which is listed on the Irish Stock Exchange’s Enterprise Securities Market, on a proposed open offer to shareholders and subsequent debt restructuring. Enda Newton joined the National Treasury Management Agency.

Eileen Grace at Eugene F. Collins led advice to Johnson & Johnson on the updating of its euro commercial paper, valued at $3bn, and is advising IBRC on its debt programmes and securities.

Eversheds is growing its practice off the back of its international network. Senior associate Gerry Beausang advised Providence Resources on its $100m placement with institutional investors.

LK Shields Solicitors’ Tracy Gilvarry and ‘star player’ David Williams have niche expertise in the life settlements asset class, and acted for Greenwich Life Settlements on the redomiciliation of a $160m portfolio from the US into an Irish Section 10 SPV.