A&L Goodbody LLP has an extensive record in debt capital markets (DCM) and structured products, along with an impressive history in equity capital markets (ECM) offerings. The firm continues to operate at the forefront of residential mortgage-backed securitisations (RMBS), including both full public market and retained securitisation for Irish originators. The firm’s RMBS work also includes securitisations of non-performing loan (NPL) portfolios. Ciarán Rogers leads the finance department and is an experienced figure in capital markets, securitisation and structured products. Peter Walker heads the DCM and structured products group, where Gearoid Stanley is another name to note. Paul White and Charlie Carroll are key figures on the ECM side.
Capital markets in Ireland
A&L Goodbody LLP
Practice head(s):
Peter Walker; Ciarán Rogers; Paul White
Other key lawyers:
Gearoid Stanley; Sinéad O’Connor; Adrian Burke; Peter Murray; Jack Sheehy; Charlie Carroll; Alan Casey; Ronan Lyons; Michelle Daly; Eugenée Mulhern
Testimonials
‘The team are very accessible and responsive and they are great at delivering practical and commercial advice on the tricky issues. Their experience and technical expertise is very impressive.’
‘They work hard to get to know you and build trust. They are knowledgeable, commercial and motivated.’
‘Collaborative approach to working with clients, good oversight of other legal firms when working with multiple parties.’
‘Strong commercial legal opinions and quick turn around times.’
‘Sinead O’Connor, Jack Sheehy and Peter Walker are always approachable and knowledgeable.’
‘One unique aspect of the firm is it employs a senior adviser, Eugenée Mulhern, who has over 20 years corporate finance experience. Eugenée is able to apply her detailed knowledge of the Listing Rules with her vast knowledge of precedent transactions over the past two decades.’
‘I worked primarily with Darran Nangle, partner. Darran was very responsive, very knowledgeable and very keen to assist. Eugenée Mulhern, senior adviser, assisted when a detailed knowledge of the listing rules was required. Eugenée was extremely thorough with her approach and gave very detailed advice.’
Key clients
Bank of Ireland
Allied Irish Banks
Finance Ireland
Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA
KBC Bank Ireland plc
Commerzbank AG
Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc
Permanent TSB
Endo International plc
WisdomTree
Daa Finance plc
Santander Consumer Finance S.A.
IPUT plc
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Deutsche Bank
Merrill Lynch International
Barclays Bank plc
Adient plc
Work highlights
- Advised on the €350m Mulcair No. 2 Securities DAC public RMBS securitisation comprising a pool of regulatory non performing exposures.
- Acted as lead counsel to Permanent TSB plc, Fastnet Securities 16 DAC and Fastnet Securities 17 DAC in relation to the launch of two new retained securitisation structures.
- Advised Bank of Ireland Group plc on its issuances of Additional Tier 1 €675m and €300m Fixed Rate Reset Additional Tier 1 Perpetual Contingent Temporary Write-Down Securities.
Arthur Cox
Arthur Cox has a depth of resources and variety of expertise that has allowed it to target all key areas in the capital markets field, from corporate debt and high-yield debt to green bonds, regulatory capital and RMBS; the firm also has a niche in Russian LPN structures. It has a high market share of ECM deals in the Irish market and represents a large number of Irish business that are listed overseas including on NYSE and Nasdaq. Cormac Kissane remains a market leader in DCM, along with Aiden Small and Glenn Butt, and Phil Cody, who heads the New York office, is another key practitioner in the team. Maura McLaughlin and Cian McCourt are key names on the equity side.
Practice head(s):
Aiden Small; Cian McCourt
Other key lawyers:
Cormac Kissane; Glenn Butt; Phil Cody; Brendan Wallace; Maura McLaughlin; Stephen Ranalow; Chris McLaughlin; Conor McCarthy
Testimonials
‘Technically but also commercially very experienced and very strong. Proactive, responsive, extremely pleasant to deal with, strategic thinkers and problem solvers. Value for money.’
‘Understand their immediate and connected client needs within the deal situations, and well versed in working alongside London Magic Circle firms harmoniously as well which is important for ultimate deal execution.’
‘Cormac Kissane is an experienced and talented partner and an excellent relationship manager. Aiden Small is very well-connected in the London market and popular with clients.’
‘Excellent subject matter experts, really ahead of impending developments in the area, practical and commercially astute’
‘Equity markets – Strength and depth of the team – the leading capital markets team in Ireland.’
‘Debt capital markets – the debt capital markets team are at the forefront of any developments within the Irish market. They have a notable wealth of knowledge of the capital markets space and the team are always well informed and responsive. The team always deliver a best in class service.’
‘Phil Cody and the team at Arthur Cox are extremely responsive and attentive. The advice is excellent and based on valuable experience on regulatory matters.’
‘Phil Cody is my go to lawyer in this team, he impresses everyone on the deal with his commercial approach and deep market knowledge while also being superb on technical issues.’
Work highlights
- Acted as Irish transaction counsel and drafted the prospectus on a bond issued by daa finance plc and guaranteed by daa plc.
- Advised as to all Irish law and Irish tax aspects on Johnson Control’s second green financing.
- Advised Dole on its IPO.
Matheson
Matheson is at the forefront of the DCM and structured finance segment with one of the largest teams in Ireland. The firm is especially rated for cross-border transactions, evidenced by the presence of structured finance partner Alan Keating in the New York office. The team routinely represents a range of asset managers, investment banks and other financial institutions. It has continued to advise on a series of headline securitisation and green bond issuances, amongst other notable transactions. Turlough Galvin co-heads the finance and capital markets group and is a prolific adviser on DCM and structured finance transactions, bringing extensive tax expertise to deals. Christian Donagh is also an experienced figure in DCM and structured finance, while Richard Kelly is an emerging name. The ECM team is also well-connected to the UK and US markets, and has a solid record in representing Irish-registered US-listed issuers on transactions and ongoing governance matters. Fergus Bolster and David Fitzgibbon are immensely experienced ECM specialists.
Practice head(s):
Turlough Galvin; Patrick Molloy
Other key lawyers:
Christian Donagh; Alan Keating; David Fitzgibbon; Fergus Bolster; George Brady; Richard Kelly; Madeline McDonnell; Susanne McMenamin; David Jones; Micheál Buckley
Testimonials
‘The team is very responsive and always delivers practical, commercial and reliable advice. All members of the team are extremely engaging and a pleasure to work with.’
Key clients
Credit Suisse
Societe Generale
BlackRock
CBAM
Ares Management
Crayhill Management
Goldman Sachs
Barclays
BNP Paribas
UniCredit
Deutsche Bank
JPMorgan
Ally Financial
Santander
Lexington Partners
Credit Suisse Asset Management
Hayfin Capital Management
Work highlights
- Acted as sole legal, regulatory and tax advisers to Deutsche Bank AG as arranger and joint lead manager and Citigroup Global Markets Limited as joint lead manager in the third public securitisation by First Citizen Finance DAC.
- Advised Mars on its role as purchaser of a large portfolio of non-performing Irish residential mortgages from Allied Irish Banks plc.
- Acted as the legal adviser to the joint lead managers and co-manager as to Irish law in connection with the issuance by AIB Group of €750m in senior green bonds.
McCann FitzGerald LLP
McCann FitzGerald LLP has a prolific record in DCM, derivatives and structured finance instruments, including debt issuances by Irish corporates and financial institutions, and international debt raisings through Irish special purpose issuing entities. The firm has achieved further prominence in sustainability-linked bond and green bond offerings. While the equity markets have been quiet, the firm has continued to advise on rights issues, share placings and secondary listings. Fergus Gillen has an outstanding reputation having advised on a range of landmark transactions and Judith Lawless is a leading figure in OTC and exchange traded derivatives. Adrian Farrell and Hugh Beattie are also key names in DCM. David Byers, Aidan Lawlor, Stephen FitzSimons are notable names on the ECM side, while Gill Lohan is an emerging talent.
Practice head(s):
Aidan Lawlor; Fergus Gillen
Other key lawyers:
Adrian Farrell; Judith Lawless; Hugh Beattie; Éamon Ó Cuiv; David Byers; Stephen FitzSimons; Gill Lohan; Conor O’Dwyer
Testimonials
‘The team are excellent all rounders and collaborators and their depth of technical expertise and experience is very impressive.’
‘The team are very responsive and accessible and very good collaborators. They build trust quickly. They identify the important issues and are excellent problem solvers.’
‘McCann’s team is responsive, thorough and excellent at providing technical legal advice in an easily digestible form. The team is thoroughly personable and a pleasure to work with.’
‘Quick to respond, good depth of knowledge on any issues we raise with them.’
‘Judith Lawless – always the brightest person in the room! Although clearly extremely intelligent, always explained complex concepts in easily understandable clear terms. Judith is an exceptional lawyer – really impressive both technically and commercially, in understanding the client’s business.’
‘Hugh Beattie is a real standout for me. He’s all over the detail and gives the big picture view, as and when needed. He’s a real pleasure to work with and someone I’d always like to team up with on a deal.’
‘Hugh Beattie has always made himself available to assist on any issues.’
Key clients
Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment
Kingspan
National Treasury Asset Management Agency (as controller and manager of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund)
DunPort Capital Management
Bluestone Motor Finance
AIB Mortgage Bank u.c.
Prodigy Finance
Investec Bank
Investcorp
Morgan Stanley
Hammerson
Intesa Sanpaolo
International Swaps and Derivatives Association Inc.
DEPFA Bank
Kingspan Group Plc
Kerry Group Plc
Kenmare Resources Plc
Greencoat Renewables Plc
C&C Group Plc
AIB Group Plc
Irish Residential Properties REIT Plc (I•RES REIT)
Datalex Plc
Hostelworld Group plc
Origin Enterprises Plc
Hammerson plc
Goldman Sachs
J&E Davy
Goodbody Stockbrokers
Work highlights
- Advised the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on the establishment and continued operation of the Covid-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme.
- Advised Hammerson on its €700m issuance of sustainability-linked bonds and advised on its successful listing on the main market for listed securities of Euronext Dublin.
- Advised C&C Group on its 6-for-23 fully underwritten rights issue to raise gross proceeds of approximately £151m.
Walkers
Walkers has a major presence in structured finance and securitisation, especially in the CLO segment, along with the CMBS and RMBS spaces. It is also building its profile in green, social and sustainable bonds. The firm represents an impressive number of financial institutions and fund managers, along with a range of prominent international issuers. Garry Ferguson and Andrew Traynor are amongst the senior names in the market, with Noeleen Ruddy leading the field in CLOs, where Paddy Rath is also making an impression. Ian McNamee provides further senior firepower in DCM, ABS, SRT and synthetic securitisations. Matt Hedigan is another prominent name in securitisations and carbon offset repack programmes.
Practice head(s):
Garry Ferguson
Other key lawyers:
Noeleen Ruddy; Andrew Traynor; Matt Hedigan; Ian McNamee; Paddy Rath; Michael Caulfield
Testimonials
‘I work with their CLO team and they have built a real niche in this area and are without doubt in the top tier of leading law firms in Ireland in terms of CLO expertise. They have the transactional expertise, coupled with the key tax expertise, and seamless integration with their listing and corporate services department. A winning one-stop shop for CLOs.’
‘Walkers has a leading Irish capital markets practice with particular strength in structured finance, including CLOs and insurance-linked securities, both of which I work on as transaction counsel.’
‘Andrew Traynor: Friendly and approachable. Work with him on many CLO and structured finance transactions for mutual clients. Have asked Andrew more than once for a ‘second opinion’ on Irish law issues that have arisen on other matters on which Walkers are not acting, because of his deep legal and wide market knowledge.’
‘Garry Ferguson – partner – expert in his field and solid partner on all aspects of CLO issues. Great person to deal with and fully engaged.’
‘Noeleen Ruddy and Paddy Rath are a great team of partners that work well together. Both are very attentive and pragmatic both on deal and off deal. Very clued into the market and collaborative with all deal parties.’
‘Paddy Rath, Andrew Traynor, Noeleen Ruddy, Ian Mcnamee are our main contacts. They are all top professionals who invest in relationships and build them over time. They also make it easy for their clients by being proactive with points and actively driving resolution while not resorting to aggressive practices common in the legal world.’
‘Noeleen Ruddy: Extremely knowledgeable and always solutions oriented. Gives advice before issues arise rather than only afterwards. Along with head of Dublin office Garry Ferguson leads Walkers market-leading insurance-linked securities practice.’
‘We worked with Matt Hedigan and Michael Caulfield. Both had an excellent understanding of the particularities of a continental jurisdiction such as Greece and their drafting in the Irish law documents of the transaction was also very clear. They were available at short notice most of the time.’
Key clients
Accunia Credit Management Fondsmæglerselskab A/S
Albacore Capital LLP
Apollo Asset Management
Apollo Management International LLP
Ares European Loan Management
Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A (the largest Italian insurance group)
Athora Ireland PLC
Avia Solutions Group
AXA Global P&C
Banco Santander S.A
Bank of America Europe DAC
Bank of Scotland
Barings (an international investment manager with US$325bn+ AUM)
Bench Walk Advisors, LLC (large US litigation funder)
Bridgepoint Credit Management Limited
Cairn Capital (a European alternative investment firm with US$14.7bn AUM)
Citicorp Trustee Company Limited
Covéa (France’s largest domestic property & casualty insurance group)
DXC Technology (a Fortune 500 multinational)
Deutsche Bank AG
Five Arrows Manager LLP
Goldman Sachs
Hertz Group Holdings Inc.
HSBC Bank plc
King Street Capital (with approx US$18bn AUM)
Lloyds Bank plc
Macquarie Bank
Man Group plc (leading investment manager with US$114bn AUM)
Munich Re (the German reinsurance giant)
Oak Hill Advisors (US PE firm with over US$33bn AUM)
Onex Credit Partners (a private equity firm with US$46bn AUM)
PGIM
Pinebridge Investments (with US$ 16.8bn AUM)
Piraeus Bank
Redding Ridge Asset Management (UK) LLP
Santander Consumer Finance
Santander UK
Santander Totta
Securitias Treasury Ireland DAC
Segovia Capital (formerly Bardin Hill / Halcyon Capital Management (a global firm with over US$10bn AUM))
SCOR Global P&C (fourth largest reinsurer in the world)
Tikehau Capital Europe
Tramontana Asset Management
Unicredit Bank AG
UnipolSai Assicurazioni S.p.A. (Italian insurance company)
US Bank
Wilmington Trust
Work highlights
- Acted as Irish legal and tax counsel to Hertz Global Holdings in relation to its successful global restructuring of $19bn of debt and return of $1bn of value to shareholders during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Acted UnipolSai Assicurazioni as the Irish legal and tax advisers for the establishment and approval of the first multi-arrangement catastrophe bond programme approved by the Central Bank of Ireland.
- Acted as Irish legal and tax advisors and listing agent in relation to Santander Totta’s Irish law governed direct credit linked note issuance referencing a €3.05bn portfolio of Portuguese corporate and SME loans.
William Fry
William Fry has fine traditions in ECM and straight DCM transactions, and is building its name in structured finance and securitisation. The firm is widely recognised for its roles as counsel to issuers and underwriters in domestic equity offerings, most notably in the technology, real estate and financial services sectors. It advised on the only listing on Euronext Dublin in 2020 when it represented Trust Stamp on its introduction to the Euronext Growth Market. Since joining in May 2020, Matthew Cahill has helped build the firm's standing in DCM, structured finance and securitisation. He is part of a team that also includes prominent ECM specialists Myra Garrett and Mark Talbot, along with DCM expert David Maughan.
Practice head(s):
Mark Talbot; Myra Garrett; Matthew Cahill
Other key lawyers:
David Maughan; Brian Butterwick
Testimonials
‘William Fry’s coverage is more coordinated and proactive than our prior legal advisors. The ability to access a top class slate across multiple fields is very helpful.’
‘Mark Talbot is precise, commercial and frequently displays an understanding of our business and transactions that is beyond counterparties’ expectations. I have yet to come across better Irish corporate/capital markets legal advice.’
Key clients
DCC plc
Irish Residential Properties REIT plc
FINEOS Corporation Holdings plc
Smurfit Kappa Group plc
Cpl Resources plc
Mincon Group plc
Uniphar plc
Credit Suisse
Yew Grove REIT plc
J & E Davy
Jefferies International
T Stamp Inc.
Trinity Biotech plc
Veraison Capital AG
Glenveagh Properties plc
Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG
RBC Capital Markets plc
Irish Department of Finance
Goodbody Stockbrokers
Ardagh Group
Conroy Gold and Natural Resources plc
Shard Capital
Pollen Street Capital
BNP Paribas
Allianz Global Investors GmbH
Anima Holding S.p.A.
British Airways
TowerBrook Capital Partners
Deutsche Bank
Coca-Cola European Partners
Work highlights
- Advised the Department of Finance on the sell-down of part of the state’s shareholding in Bank of Ireland through a pre-arranged trading plan managed by Citigroup Global Markets Limited.
- Advised Yew Grove REIT on its migration from the Euronext Growth Market of Euronext Dublin to the regulated securities market of Euronext Dublin.
Dillon Eustace
Dillon Eustace‘s significant presence in the investment funds and financial services sectors, provides the basis for a thriving capital markets practice, most notably on the debt side. The firm operates across the structured finance, securitisation and corporate/high yield issuer spaces. Senior name Mark Thorne is an experienced figure in structured finance, including local and cross border securitisations, and asset and structured finance repackaging. Conor Keaveny, Keith Robinson and John-Hugh Colleran are also key team members, while Conor Kiernan impresses at senior associate level.
Practice head(s):
Mark Thorne
Other key lawyers:
Conor Keaveny; Keith Robinson; John-Hugh Colleran; Conor Kiernan
Testimonials
‘We have worked with the same team of three for over two years now. Part of the team is a partner, a senior associate and a senior consultant. The combination of those three individuals gives us a wide range of knowledge for our multi-issuance platform.’
‘Great work, very efficient, and very available, even at the last minute. We really appreciate working with Dillon Eustace in Ireland.’
‘Efficient and friendly professionals who never fail to deliver a high standard of service.’
‘Conor Kiernan is super efficient, very professional and knows very well the funds practice in Ireland. Conor Keaveny is also very available when we need.’
‘Dillon Eustace employees are go-getters, they go out of their way to give the highest level of service to their clients. Special mention to John-Hugh Colleran.’
Key clients
FBD Holdings
Deutsche Bank
Gazprombank
AXA
AIG
Absolute Return Partners
Bond Central
Kinnerton Credit Management
DFC Global Corporation
Otkritie
AlphaNotes
Lasalle Investment Management
Work highlights
- Provided the tax and legal advice to a large credit fund involved in on-lending on its $5bn asset-backed term note programme.
- Advised an international investment fund on the establishment of an unlisted note programme to be used in connection with the financing of the acquisition of various loan portfolios.
- Represented Deutsche Bank AG (as agent, security trustee and original lender) in providing financing to the Seniors Money group of companies.
Maples Group
Maples Group is a notable player in the CLO market, recognised for its role as regular counsel to collateral manager clients. The Dublin team is also able to rely on the support and expertise within the wider firm, particularly in understanding both US and European CLO markets. In the repackaging sphere, the firm advises a number of global banks in connection with Irish products. It is also acknowledged for its expertise in combining DCM and investment fund technologies for global asset and specialist investment managers to create specialist Irish SPV issuer platforms. The ECM team is best known for cross-border transactions, including SPAC IPOs. Stephen McLoughlin has become a prominent figure in the Irish structured finance market, including in CLO, RMBS and other securitisation structures. Callaghan Kennedy is another key partner in CLOs and other asset-backed securitisations, while Patrick Quinlan is a senior practitioner in the ECM field. Structured finance expert Nichola O’Reilly made of counsel in 2022.
Practice head(s):
Stephen McLoughlin
Other key lawyers:
Callaghan Kennedy, Patrick Quinlan
Testimonials
‘The team is deep and has a longstanding experience in all areas of capital markets including particularly European CLOs. They have a great US CLO practice out of Cayman and their Dublin office complements this well for the European CLO practice. Outside of CLOs, where they are pre-eminent, they have an excellent general structured finance and financing practice.’
‘We work with Stephen McLoughlin and Cal Kennedy. Both are excellent, extremely responsive and know both the technical law and their markets extremely well. They are great fun to deal with and don’t take silly points, having an excellent judgement as to what is important on a deal that comes from seeing such a large swathe of their market.’
Key clients
Liberty Global
Carlson Travel
Cabot Financial UK
Goldman Sachs International
Citibank
Barclays Capital
Mizuho International
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Morgan Stanley
HPS Investment Partners LLC
Fair Oaks Capital Limited
TwentyFour Asset Management LLP
Cabot Financial UK
BlueBay Asset Management LLP
Spire Partners
North Wall Capital
Capital Four Management
Nomura International plc
Guggenheim Partners Europe Limited
Goldentree Loan Management LP
CIFC
Invesco Senior Secured Management Inc
Angelo Gordon
Palmer Square Capital
Natwest Markets plc
Voya Investment Management
Neuberger Berman
Draper Esprit Plc
J&E Davy
Guggenheim
HSBC
Elliott Management
Senvest
Work highlights
- Advised on the tap issuance of $90m senior secured notes due 2027, providing finance to Liberty Communications PR Holdings effected by way of a private placement with specific investors, and a new issuance of $820m secured notes due 2029 by LCPR Senior Secured Financing.
- Acted as Irish counsel to both Splitit Treasury Europe Designated Activity Company and Goldman Sachs Bank USA on a $150m receivables funding facility for Splitit Payments Limited.
- Advised Palmer Square Capital Management in relation to the issue of €356m tranched CLO notes which were listed on the Global Exchange Market of the Euronext Dublin by Palmer Square European CLO 2021-2 Designated Activity Company.
Mason Hayes & Curran LLP
Mason Hayes & Curran LLP operates primarily in the structured finance, securitisation and derivatives fields. It has a further presence in corporate debt and ECM, along with public M&A transactions. The firm is particularly close to international issuers. It is a growing force in structured note programmes, notably for corporate trustees and agencies. Daragh O’Shea and David Mangan have played a pivotal role in building the firm's DCM and structured finance standing in recent years, while Justin McKenna has maintained its status in ECM.
Practice head(s):
Daragh O’Shea; Justin McKenna
Other key lawyers:
David Mangan; Marc Wilkinson; Samuel Monteith; Eoin Traynor
Testimonials
‘They are prompt, responsive, a delight to interact with, extremely reasonable in their fees, highly knowledgeable, and ready to chisel advice to fully correspond to the client’s needs.’
‘A very client centric firm. Distinguished itself with an excellent understanding of and ability to influence legislative change as well as a strong understanding of and linkage to the policy formation process at a national level.’
‘MHC’s capital markets practice brings the perfect balance of managing the important legal matters of a transaction or a programme, with the commercial objectives of each of the parties involved. MHC is able to bring the relevant expertise to cover legal, tax, structuring and other issues. MHC can cover as well any international queries and support as needed.
‘Regarding innovation, I believe MHC has always been willing and able to adapt and even pioneer in the work we do within capital markets. They are readily available to think outside the box and implement technology to make our capital market processes most efficient, which is crucial to us since we have a volume business.’
‘MHC is a pleasure to work with. All team members are extremely helpful and very quick in replying to any questions/matters raised. Everybody in MHC is very kind and willing to assist. Their knowledge in the field of Capital Markets is deep and there is a great collaboration amongst the team members.’
‘Daragh O’ Shea – he is simply the ‘dream’ of a General Counsel who wishes to have someone of his caliber to trust on every count – time and availability, reliability of judgement, quality of deliverables, utter trustworthiness, and complete value for most reasonable fees.’
‘In terms of individuals, Daragh O’Shea has been a great and commercial partner to work with. Marc Wilkinson is a stand out associate and works extremely hard to maintain a high standard and to take a collaborative and commercial approach to working with us. Samuel Monteith is another associate that puts a great deal of effort and thought into his daily work.’
‘All team members of MHC provide high quality service. I would distinguish Samuel Monteith and Eoin Traynor. I am always impressed by their detailed and prompt responses to any question that either parties or us might have in the transactions we work with them. They will deal with everything (comments on the docs, billing queries etc.) in an effective and prompt way.’
Key clients
CIX Capital International DAC
Participant Capital ETP DAC
DCM US Multi-Family Home PLC
American Fruits and Flavors Ireland DAC
Biohaven Pharmaceuticals Ireland DAC
Permanent TSB Public Limited Company
ETPCAP2 DAC, ETPX DAC, HFMX DAC, IA Capital Structures (Ireland) plc and PRODIGYX DAC
ByrneWallace LLP
ByrneWallace LLP‘s capital markets team is principally known for its work in the resources and life sciences sectors. It is particularly noted for ECM transactions, including IPOs, secondary offerings and the migration of settlement systems. Colin Sainsbury provides specialist expertise in the life sciences field. Gerry Beausang has joined Pinsent Masons LLP.
Other key lawyers:
Colin Sainsbury
Testimonials
‘BW knows our business and retains a great deal of ‘corporate memory’ of our company and its transactions over the years. It is sensitive to costs and timing of payment which is a great benefit to us.’
‘Competent and prompt service. Client friendly approach.’
Key clients
PetroNeft Resources plc
Aminex plc
Great Western Mining Corporation plc
Amryt Pharma plc
Mainstream Renewable Power Limited
Q3 Medical Devices Limited
HSS Hire Group plc
Work highlights
- Advised Aminex plc (and two other listed plcs) in relation to the migration of the settlement system for trading in its shares to Euroclear Bank in Belgium from Euroclear UK & Ireland.
- Advised Mainstream Renewable Power Limited in relation to the offer by the proposed buyer, Aker Horizons AS, to shareholders for 75% of the company.
- Advised PetroNeft Resources plc in relation to its recent acquisition of an increased stake in one of its Siberian gas wells.
DLA Piper Ireland LLP
DLA Piper has made an impression on the wider capital markets sphere, including DCM, ECM and structured finance. Using its international platform, it is at the forefront of emerging segments, such as de-SPAC transactions. It has good connections to financial services and technology issuers, along with arrangers and underwriters. Matthew Cole is an experienced figure in ECM transactions, having joined the firm from A&L Goodbody LLP in December 2020; he was previously a London-based practitioner. Conor Houlihan has a strong background in DCM and securitisation.
Practice head(s):
Conor Houlihan; Matthew Cole
Other key lawyers:
Elaine Cummins
Testimonials
‘The team has a very good grasp of the commercial and legal intricacies of structured finance vehicles.‘
‘The team has an excellent overview over complex investment structures and they are able to deliver both useful legal and practical advices. The team stands out by being better than their competitors to understand both the practical and commercial challenges in the specific investments.‘
‘We have worked with the DLA Piper team in multiple jurisdictions on a variety of transactions. They stand out in providing seamless services between their offices with a main contact point. Very knowledgeable partners, open to be contacted and can escalate if certain matters need to be resolved.‘
‘Matt Cole is an excellent lawyer and a large personality.‘
‘Conor Houlihan stands out as a very seasoned lawyer with a broad knowledge base, commercial sense, eye for details, and a good sense for finding the weak links in the legal arguments of counterparties in contract negotiations.
‘Elaine Cummins is thorough and detailed in her analysis and with a a commercial view for suggesting what is needed or nice to push for in tricky documentation work.‘
Key clients
Kinnerton Credit Management
Sampension Administrationsselskab
Lendable
Banco Santander & Santander Consumer Bank
Fairfield Real Estate Finance Services
Deutsche Bank AG London branch
Santander Consumer Multirent
Allied Irish Banks plc
Permanent TSB
Harrison Street
Navitas Semiconductor, Inc
PEQ Holdings Limited
Work highlights
- Advised Banco Santander SA & Santander Consumer Bank GmbH on the Irish law aspects of a wholly-retained securitisation.
- Advised Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, as arranger on the Irish law aspects of a trade receivables securitisation programme for Greek state-controlled Public Power Corporation S.A.
- Acted for Navitas Semiconductor as the target in the first IPO by way of a de-SPAC transaction in the Irish market.
Eversheds Sutherland
Eversheds Sutherland is a growing force in the market with a stronger background in ECM, but with growing credentials on the DCM side. The Dublin team offers additional cross-border expertise and has strong connections to the London office. Department head Lee Murphy has a background in big-ticket IPOs, and continues to work on a range of IPOs, takeovers, reverse takeovers and private placements.
Practice head(s):
Lee Murphy
Key clients
CyrusOne
Alychlo NV
Goodbody Stockbrokers UC
Investec Bank plc
FEXCO
Liberum Capital
Dublin Port Company
Open Orphan plc
Cairn Homes plc
Hibernia REIT plc
Kingspan plc
Hanover Investors
AWG Holdings plc
Computershare
Integumen plc
Knight Frank
Prime Active Capital plc
National Treasury Management Agency
Work highlights
- Advised Goodbody Stockbrokers UC, as joint bookrunner and sponsor, in relation to Yew Grove REIT plc’s step up from the Euronext Growth market to the Regulated Market of Euronext Dublin.
- Advised the CyrusOne group in respect of a debt listing by its newly incorporated Irish entity CyrusOne Europe Finance DAC of €500m guaranteed 1.125% senior notes due in 2028, listed on the Global Exchange Market of Euronext Dublin.
- Advised Goodbody and Liberum in connection with their respective roles as joint bookrunners, brokers and Euronext Growth Adviser/Nomad to Yew Grove REIT plc in connection with its successful placing and directors’ subscription raising.
LK Shields Solicitors LLP
LK Shields Solicitors LLP is building its name in structured products, notably in Irish securitisation vehicles for life settlement portfolios and listed securitisations of student loan portfolios. Much of the practice is driven by funds and fund vehicles. David Williams is a longstanding member of the structured solutions group with a strong background in listed and unlisted securitisation structures. Trevor Dolan specialises in advising fund promoters, including on the establishment and launch of SPVs for issuing debt and equity. Garry Wynne impresses at senior associate level.
Other key lawyers:
David Williams; Trevor Dolan; Garry Wynne
Testimonials
‘Excellent client focus, extensive expertise and knowledge.’
‘Super smart, understand the problem and have the solution readily available.’
‘Personal service, nothing is too much trouble, really friendly to deal with and prioritise the important stuff well.’
‘Solid knowledge of and document drafting for Irish based investment funds.’
‘Practical business solutions.’
‘The team at LK Shields has a good hands-on approach, it provides practical solutions for transactional queries and is responsive when needed.’
‘David Williams; Trevor Dolan, and Garry Wynne: Always accessible, and deliver on commitments at all times.’
‘Garry Wynne is very knowledgeable when it comes to the capital markets transactions. He goes above and beyond to ensure the client is satisfied and to advise the clients in terms of legal structuring of transactions.’
Key clients
Solargreen Investment Holdings Limited
Corry Capital Advisors, LLC
Alpha Growth plc
Audacia Capital (Ireland) plc
Work highlights
- Advised Corry Capital on the establishment of a debt securities note programme investing in life settlement policies.
- Advised Solargreen on the establishment of a section 110 special purpose vehicle for the issue of bonds raising €400m capital to establish the client as a trading company for the purchase of raw gold for refinement and sale on the London Metal Exchange.
- Advised Audacia on the addition of several collateral obligors to its multi-collateral obligor secured notes programme listed on the Irish stock exchange.