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Restructuring work continued to dominate Dickson Minto WS’ workload in 2010, including advising Macdonald Hotels on refinancing its £340m debt facilities. Colin McHale and Allan Fraser jointly head the finance practice.

Caryn Penley heads the team at Dundas & Wilson CS LLP, which acted for City Property Glasgow (Investments) on an innovative property transfer deal funded by £120m of facilities provided by Barclays Bank; the deal was led by Stephen Phillips, who has ‘a natural ability to get to the core of the issue quickly and focus on practical tailored solutions for his client’. David Morton moved to DLA Piper Scotland LLP, while Michael Stoneham departed to Brodies LLP in early 2011.

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s broad finance expertise encompasses asset, property and acquisition finance. 2010 saw the team act on a mixture of refinancings and leveraged finance transactions, with the former dominating in current market conditions. Highlights included acting for Lloyds Banking Group in the £380m refinancing of Macdonald Hotels. Susan Kelly leads the team, and Chris Dun and Robert Laing are also recommended. Scott Swankie moved to Blackwood Partners LLP in 2011.

McGrigors LLP’s ‘first-class’ finance team is noted for its ‘ability to meet tight deadlines without compromising knowledge and competence’. In 2010, it advised the banks on their provision of $120m of multi-option facilities to Northern Offshore Limited, and acted for Glasgow Housing Association on £700m term loan and grant facilities provided by a combination of an RBS-led syndicate of banks and the Scottish government. Edinburgh-based Iain Macaulay is ‘knowledgeable, pragmatic, commercially aware, and more than able to hold his own against Magic Circle firms’.

Brodies LLP expanded its already formidable banking and finance team by recruiting project finance specialist Michael Stoneham from Dundas & Wilson CS LLP. The 13-partner team provides expertise across a broad spread of areas, including securitisation, and acquisition, project and real estate finance. The latter area proved particularly active for the team in 2010, with deals including advising the lender on refinancing for Myriad Healthcare, a major UK care home provider. Bruce Stephen leads the group, which was appointed to Santander’s Scottish panel in 2010.

Burness LLP’s seven-partner team is fast developing a reputation as ‘one of the best Scottish law firms’ for banking transactions, with clients ‘consistently impressed by the fast responses and good client relationship skills’. Scott Wilson heads the team, which in 2010 advised RBS’ real estate finance group on £160m of syndicated facilities to Airport Industrial Limited Partnership. Alan Soppitt is ‘a lifesaver on complex structures’, and dual-qualified Jonathan Heaney is an ‘intelligent, down-to-earth and pragmatic lawyer’.

Shepherd and Wedderburn advised Bank of Scotland plc on the restructuring and restating of £220m of senior and mezzanine facilities, and on the intercreditor deed in place with Valiant Petroleum plc and other Valiant companies. Gordon Hay is an ‘excellent oil and gas finance specialist’, and practice head Andrew Kinnes is also recommended.

Property finance is a core strength of Tods Murray LLP’s ‘knowledgeable’ finance team, which ‘works to a high standard at all levels of the transaction’. In 2010, the team acted for Santander UK on the restructuring of a multi-issuer residential mortgage securitisation programme. Practice head Graham Burnside ‘knows all the issues and makes sure everything runs smoothly’.

Biggart Baillie LLP’s finance team ‘provides the highest level of service’, with clients noting that it is ‘always a key contributor in getting the deal to completion’. With a particular focus on property finance, the team advised Apex Hotels Limited on refinancing £111m of facilities provided by RBS. Practice head Grant Docherty takes ‘a very commercial approach’.

Asset, real estate and project finance are core strengths of DLA Piper Scotland LLP’s finance practice, which was bolstered by David Morton’s arrival from Dundas & Wilson CS LLP. Stuart McMillan heads the team, whose recent highlights include advising RBS Invoice Finance on asset finance funding for The Scottish Trading Company.

Acquisition, real estate and project finance constitute the core of MacRoberts LLP’s banking practice. The group advised Lloyds, RBS, HSBC and Clydesdale Bank on providing a €300m facility to Wiliam Grant & Sons Distillers Limited to fund the purchase of drinks brands from C&C Group plc. Practice head Norman Martin and Andrew Orr are recommended.

John Blackwood heads the banking and finance team at McClure Naismith LLP, which continues to develop its regulatory and restructuring capability alongside its traditional property finance expertise. Clients include Barclays Bank.

Morton Fraser has steadily developed a reputation for ‘first-class service and invaluable advice that is always correct’. This translated into a raft of panel appointments in 2010, including by Santander, Standard Chartered and HSBC. Susan Younger heads the team, in which Andrew Meakin is recommended for his ‘in-depth knowledge and understanding’.

Paull & Williamsons LLP’s Aberdeen-based group is ‘excellent in terms of quality of advice, team experience and responsiveness’, and has developed a key strength in reserve-based lending transactions to oil and gas sector clients. It is also strong in shipping and offshore project finance. ‘Commercial, experienced lawyers’ Jamie Stark, Scott Allan, John Kennedy and Alasdair Smith are all recommended, as is Helen Dickson, who recently joined from Shepherd and Wedderburn.

Anderson Strathern provides ‘reasonable, sound advice’ on property-related finance transactions, and grew its client list in 2010, with HSBC, Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre and University of West Scotland all providing new instructions. Practice head James Blair ‘shows good understanding of niche areas of law, and is well versed in the current working processes of the banks’.

Colin McKay’s nascent banking and finance practice at Eversheds was busy in 2010, and advised Scottish Resources Group on £47.5m of new facilities provided by Lloyds Banking Group.

HBJ Gateley’s finance team demonstrates a ‘high knowledge of the banking sector’, and ‘nothing is too much trouble or beyond its range of expertise’. The team was strengthened in 2010 by Alan Shanks’ relocation from the Dubai office, bringing with him ‘great knowledge of the MENA-Caspian markets as well as accuracy and an eye to legal and commercial sensitivities’. Shanks led on a number of multi-jurisdictional financing arrangements for Topaz Energy and Marine Limited. David Kirchin heads the practice.

At Harper Macleod LLP, property finance expert Jacqui Fraser has ‘good, sound knowledge, and is backed by a great team supporting her which always delivers timely advice’. Clients include AIB Group and HSBC.

Lindsays recently hired Jamie Millar from Brodies LLP to reinforce its corporate and banking teams. He joins a banking practice that represents Scotland’s big three banks, and recently secured appointment to Santander UK’s corporate legal panel. David Lindgren is recommended.

Project finance specialist Clare Foster is recommended at Pinsent Masons LLP, while the firm has broader corporate finance capability nationally.

Douglas Gourlay at Semple Fraser LLP is recommended for his ‘extensive legal knowledge in the real estate sector, and pragmatic and commercial approach’.

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