The Legal 500

London: Corporate and commercial

Flotations: small and mid-cap

Within: Flotations: small and mid-cap

DLA Piper's team has a wealth of experience of domestic and cross-border mandates, with the work spanning matters such as rights issues, placings, block trades, dual listings, step-ups and public takeovers. It captures a particularly significant share of the market for AIM IPOs; a recent highlight involved practice head Alex Tamlyn and senior associate Robert Newman acting for Rosenblatt in its £43m AIM listing (representing the largest UK law firm IPO to date). Also in the legal services arena, John Campion, Jonathan Watkins and Newman are advising UK law firm Knights Professional Services Limited on its planned AIM IPO. Tamlyn also recently worked with senior associates Johannes Poon and Karin Kirschner to advise Zeus Capital (as NOMAD and broker) on the AIM listing of, and associated placing of shares by, OnTheMarket Plc. Martin Penn acted for PureTech Health Plc in its £72m placing. On the regulatory front, the firm has a  strong relationship with the London Stock Exchange, enabling its team to gain an understanding of current and upcoming rules and regulations. Tamlyn is Chair of the Primary Markets Group on the London Stock Exchange. Elsewhere, the firm has a particularly strong US securities law capability, with US-qualified partners Tony Lopez and George Barboutis having expertise in this area. Charles Severs and DLA Piper are other notable practitioners in the team.

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London: Finance

Asset finance and leasing

Within: Asset finance and leasing

With three partners based in London who devote a considerable amount of their time to asset finance work and also able to tap into the firm's huge international network, DLA Piper is a good choice for clients engaged in the cross-border financing of transportation assets. Spearheaded by Richard Skipper, the team is particularly strong at handling work within the aviation sector on behalf of a diverse array of clients including airlines (Etihad, Flybe), banks (Lloyds, Bank of London Middle East) and lessors (AviaAM Financial Leasing China). In a deal which involved a co-ordinated approach from several offices including Paris, Moscow, New York and Shanghai, Skipper led on the representation of AviaAM on the $500m financing and leasing of 8 new Airbus A320. Alan Cunningham leads the firm's global asset finance practice and as part of his own broad-ranging practice regularly handles aviation and shipping finance matters, including recently acting for ABN Amro in relation to the stage payment and post-delivery financing of a €40m Damen newbuild operation support vessel. US-qualified capital markets partner Tony Lopez has expertise advising on aircraft portfolio securitisations.

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Debt capital markets

Within: Debt capital markets

DLA Piper has a versatile finance practice in London in which the partners handle a range of capital markets and structured finance transactions. The firm handled many first-of-a-kind and innovative deals in 2017, which included transactions involving fintech-related assets, social investment bonds and masala bonds. Capital markets specialist Ronan Mellon acted for Axis Bank Limited, Nomura International, SBICAP and Standard Chartered Bank in the INR30bn debut masala bond issued by the National Highways Authority of India. Mellon also handled the first Rule 144a deal by an Indian Bank in 2017, when he advised Citigroup Global Markets Singapore, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank on the update of the US$5bn GMTN programme of Axis Bank. Mellon and Tony Lopez  also acted for St James's Oncology SPC Ltd and its investors, Aberdeen Infrastructure and Civis in the £261m bond refinancing of the oncology centre at the St. James’ University Teaching Hospital in Leeds. Also recommended are co-chair of the financial services group Vincent Keaveny, London head of finance and markets Mark Dwyer and global co-chair of finance and projects Martin Bartlam. Newly promoted partner Steven Krivinskas worked with Bartlam on a A$150m transaction in which issuer Places for People established an Australian MTN programme.

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High yield

Within: Leading individuals

Tony Lopez - DLA Piper

Within: High yield

DLA Piper is best known for acting on the corporate side of large UK and international high yield transactions. The practice acted for Laureate Education in its $800m offering of high yield notes to fund a complete top-to-bottom refinancing of New York law bonds and a complex credit facility. Another key highlight from 2017 was its work for Heineken UK on the acquisition of Punch Taverns, which involved the redemption of high yield notes and a refinancing with £978m of subordinated debt. The firm is also active in the restructuring market, and it acted for an ad hoc committee of bondholders in the $3bn debt restructuring of French geophysical survey company CGG, which included $1.5bn in high yield bonds. Head of international high yield Tony Lopez is a standout US-qualified lawyer in London and led those deals. Newly promoted partner Steven Krivinskas has extensive experience in structured finance and debt capital markets transactions, including high yield bonds, and acts for both financial institutions and borrowers. He played a key role in the Laureate deal.

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