Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP

Corporate debt finance and treasury, Acquisition and leveraged finance, Sustainable and green finance, ESG and sustainability

Managing Partner, London

Kristen heads our Finance practice for the West and is global co-head of Finance. He focuses in corporate debt and acquisition finance and providing general treasury advice.

Kristen also leads the corporate debt practice in London, advising a substantial number of listed and unlisted corporates on their debt financing and treasury needs. He advises on a wide range of financing transactions and focuses in acquisition and public bid finance.

More broadly, Kristen's practice has expanded to reflect broadening corporate treasury roles; he advises extensively on covenant support arrangements provided to other stakeholders, for example in relation to pension covenant arrangements and supply chain financing.

Kristen advises clients on debt raisings across the loan and private placement markets (both UK, US and European financings) as well as on trade finance, recourse and non-recourse receivables and borrowing-base financings and finance leasing. His focus in public bid finance regularly sees him appointed by bidders and the global investment banks to advise on the implementation of Takeover Code compliant bid financing arrangements. Kristen utilises his knowledge of the trends and opportunities in the debt markets to assist clients in optimising their debt capital structures and taking advantage of the arbitrage opportunities of raising debt across different products and markets.

In addition, Kristen works closely with our pensions and insurance practices in employing leveraged finance techniques for the benefit of corporates, pension trustees, insurers and reinsurers in their transactions to insulate them from risk and marshal the interests of competing stakeholders.