Caroline Phillips > Slaughter and May > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Slaughter and May provides a ‘first-class service’ to its pre-eminent roster of investment-grade corporates, guiding them through the full spectrum of their debt financing requirements, be it in the context of general corporate lending, event-driven financings or refinancings. The firm is also abreast of current market practice, including as it relates to sustainability-linked financings, and is also noted for its ‘good use of technology in managing large exercises’. In his role as overarching finance head, Matthew Tobin handles acquisition and bid financing mandates, as well as regularly advising on sustainability-linked loans and bonds. Ed Fife handles a diverse range of work for large corporate clients, running the gamut from acquisition and bid financings through to transformational refinancings and treasury-related work. As well as her wide-ranging finance work for investment-grade corporates from a broad array of industry sectors, Caroline Phillips also regularly assists private equity sponsors’ portfolio companies with their ongoing financing needs. Robert Byk is also recommended, as is the ‘customer-focused and commercial’ Azadeh Nassiri.

At Slaughter and May, ‘the client ethos is all-pervasive‘. The multi-specialist finance group handles a broad range of work for corporates, though it continues to expand its bank-side business. The ‘technically brilliant‘ Oliver Wicker and Richard Jones lead the group and are highly skilled in derivatives, while standout partners Ed Fife and Guy O’Keefe are key advisers to corporates, governmental entities and financial institutions. ‘Her knowledge and attention to detail is outstanding‘, say clients of Caroline Phillips, whose recent work includes developing a secured commodity trading platform.

The ‘prompt and attentive‘ debt capital markets practice at Slaughter and May is best known for advising blue-chip corporate issuers on regulatory capital and liability management transactions, equity-linked deals, EMTN programmes, US private placements, green and sustainably-linked bonds, and more. Nevertheless, the firm increasingly acts for financial institutions including major banks and insurance companies, as well as trustees. Practice head Caroline Phillips and key partner Guy O’Keefe are ‘great problem solvers and solutions providers‘. Phillips has a strong financial institution issuer client base, and she recently assisted a Chinese bank with its $300m offering of green notes. Matthew Tobin is ‘readily accessible, providing prompt, clear and commercial advice‘. He leads the broader finance practice, and is also head of sustainable finance. Ed Fife, who acted for an energy company in the update of its $10bn EMTN programme, Robert Byk, and up-an-coming partners Kevin Howes and Charlie McGarel-Groves are also active in the DCM arena.

Slaughter and May has ‘an incredibly strong team with understanding of not only securitisation, but other relevant areas such as derivatives and corporate finance‘. The firm’s multi-specialist approach sees its key partners handle a wide variety of finance transactions, but practice head Richard Jones and key practitioners Oliver Wicker, Guy O’Keefe and Caroline Phillips are also vastly experienced in public and private deals. Robert Byk also plays a key role in the practice. The firm works with financial institutions, investment funds, insurers, pension funds and sovereign entities, but is best known for its advice to corporate issuers.