Mr George Stephanakis > Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP fields a team of ‘meticulous, rigorous and exceptionally hard-working’ London-based lawyers who specialise in handling transatlantic equity transactions, including public and private issuances as well as de-SPAC transactions, for blue-chip corporate clients and investment banks. In addition to working with US issuers and underwriters, the team is capable of guiding domestic clients through their equity offerings and also provides advice on SEC-registered transactions for clients across EMEA. Philip Boeckman handles US and European IPOs and secondary listings for a wide range of corporate and banking clients and is also noted for his commercial lending expertise. Boeckman co-heads the team with George Stephanakis, who is a key contact for high-yield financings and hybrid transactions.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP has a high yield practice that exhibits ‘very strong knowledge of the market and excellent availability, and is very diligent‘. The practice advises both issuers and underwriters, but is particularly strong in bank-side work on complex, cross-border high yield bonds issued in multiple currencies. EMEA capital markets heads Philip Boeckman and George Stephanakis, who is ‘a trusted adviser who provides excellent service, and sound advice and guidance‘, oversee the practice, in which the ‘knowledgeable, available and good to deal with‘ Alyssa Caples and European counsel Margaret Rallings play crucial roles. The team recently covered financings involving Euro- and dollar-denominated notes for initial purchaser clients in the retail and business-to-business information services sectors.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is best known for its high yield bond practice, but its work for corporate issuers, investment banks and financial sponsors encompasses investment grade and sovereign debt. Philip Boeckman and George Stephanakis co-lead the capital markets group for EMEA, which comprises ‘a high-quality team from the partner all the way down to the most junior associate‘. Alyssa Caples ‘has tremendous experience and delivers measured and commercial advice‘. She recently acted for a major tobacco company in a $5bn notes offering. European counsel Lawrence Verhelst is another key member of the team.