US > Finance > Bank lending: West Coast
Bank lending: West Coast
PRACTICE: Driven out of the its San Francisco head office and leveraging off deeply entrenched ties with many of the region’s leading banks and corporates, Morrison & Foerster’s 12-partner bank lending team offers ‘very responsive and astute advice’, say clients.
In addition, the group has diverse industry and work-product experience and knowledge of traditional lending products such as syndicated lines of credit. Expertise across a number of niche areas has ensured that the bank lending practice has been relatively well insulated against the recent vagaries of the market.
At the vanguard of financing in the renewable energy industry, the bank lending group is an integral component of the cleantech practice group. In this capacity, its lawyers advised a client in relation to a $18m term loan facility, which utilized a unique structure that provides a royalty return to the lender based upon the gross revenues for the developed wind projects.
Given Morrison & Foerster’s location in the heart of Silicon Valley, the banking group is frequently called upon to advise borrower and lender clients engaged in entertainment-related financing. For example, it recently represented First Bank as a syndicate member in a $78m financing for Echo Bridge Entertainment, in order to facilitate the financing of the acquisition of film libraries.
‘We are very happy with the firm’s overall service and have developed a very efficient working relationship with them’, say clients.
CLIENTS: Clients include the Campbell Group, International Commercial Bank, Bank of America, Textainer Group, Bank of Taiwan, Lloyds TSB, Bank of the West, Integrated Healthcare Holdings and Cadence Design Systems.
INDIVIDUALS: ‘Very thorough’, say clients, San Francisco-based chair of the firm’s financial transactions group William Veatch is regularly involved in transactions with a significant overlap between credit and structured finance.
San Francisco-based partner Jill Feldman ‘is excellent’, rave clients. ‘She is a reliable and responsible attorney’ who is regularly instructed by financial institutions on single lender and syndicated credit transactions.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
PRACTICE: Deeply ingrained in the very fabric of the West Coast legal landscape, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP provides ‘superior’ advice to both banks and corporates engaged in middle-market transactions across a diverse collection of industry sectors.
Praised by clients for its ‘high quality and responsiveness’, the banking and finance group is effortlessly able to negotiate a myriad secured and unsecured financings, including syndicated facilities, acquisition loans, asset-based financings and bankruptcy-related financings.
CLIENTS: Instructed by financial institutions and corporates, clients include Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, WestLB, Gap, Knight-Ridder, Renault and Vivendi.
INDIVIDUALS: Los Angeles-based partner Alan Benjamin heads the firm’s banking and commercial finance practice group worldwide. A real client favorite, Benjamin is well-versed in the nuances of a multifarious collection of leveraged transactions, and has a niche expertise in lending to the gaming industry.
PRACTICE: A stalwart of the southern Californian legal market, Irell & Manella LLP’s ten-lawyer debt finance practice advises lenders and borrowers across a raft of secured and unsecured finance transactions. Praised by clients for its ability to handle ‘virtually any legal area relevant to corporations in the US’, the group often works in concert with other complementary practices to provide a true one-stop shop service. ‘They are experts in their field and are understanding of my business needs’, enthuses another client.
Instructed across all levels of the capital structure, the team has represented First Hawaiian Bank in the refinancing or restructuring of secured automobile dealership loans, totaling in excess of $166m. Other highlights include advising American Metal & Iron in an amendment and expansion of its $18m revolving credit line from US Bank National Association.
CLIENTS: Clients include US Renewables Group, First Hawaiian Bank, Chartwell Diversified Services, American Metal & Iron and Lake at Las Vegas Joint Venture.
INDIVIDUALS: Head of the firm’s debt finance group, Meredith Jackson, is ‘very responsive and has a superior intellect’, say clients.
Instructed by lenders and borrowers across a myriad major debt financings and restructurings, Eric Webber’s ‘legal talent is second to none’.
Richard Wirthlin ‘is responsive and easy to work with’, say clients.
All of the above are based in Los Angeles.