Matthew Tobin > Slaughter and May > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Slaughter and May’s finance team regularly collaborates with the firm’s real estate and construction practices to provide well-rounded advice regarding real estate and development financing. Matthew Tobin – who heads the practice – is well-regarded by clients concerning loan facilities, and financing retail facilities. Ed Fife often acts on leveraged finance, and infrastructure financing transactions.

Leveraging ‘stellar experience and knowledge of current market practice’, Slaughter and May is very well-equipped to advise its borrower-focused client base across the full array of their financing needs, including to facilitate big-ticket M&A mandates. Although it does handle a small amount of private equity work, the majority of the firm’s deal flow originates from its market-leading corporate practice which counts an impressive volume of FTSE 100/250 clients at its disposal. Lawyers within the team are well-versed in advising across the gamut of financing products, including TLBs, unitranche, and loan/high yield bond hybrid structures, as well as offering a strong “certain funds” public bid finance practice. Team head Matthew Tobin is recommended.

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.

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.