Leveraging strong relationships with UK and international banks, Dentons is very effective at advising on domestic and cross-border syndicated financing mandates, including for investment-grade corporates, for general corporate and event-driven purposes. The ‘customer-oriented and pragmatic’ Simon Middleton has longstanding and loyal connections with Nordic lenders, including SEB and Danske Bank, both of which formed a banking syndicate alongside BNP Paribas to fund the recommended cash offer by Carlsberg UK Holdings for British soft drinks maker Britvic Plc, which Middleton recently led on. Catherine Astruc is also a very accomplished banking lawyer, including on corporate-led acquisition finance mandates, while at a more junior level Joe Byron Evans and James Ingham both continue to develop strong reputations advising financial institutions on syndicated lending transactions for banks as borrowers across Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Nick Hayday heads the team.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘The service level and professionalism is excellent. Always ensures there are senior lawyers working on the transactions, and it is very clear that the partner is always on top of the process, which is not the case from many of the other UK law firms.’
  • 'Simon Middleton is customer-oriented and pragmatic.'

Key clients

  • HSBC Bank
  • BNP Paribas
  • NatWest
  • Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB)
  • ICBC
  • Mizuho Bank
  • Emirates NBD
  • Société Générale
  • Standard Chartered Bank
  • Commerzbank
  • Kilter Finance
  • Nordea Bank

Work highlights

Advising the lenders in connection with a £4.3bn syndicated acquisition facility made available to Carlsberg Breweries A/S to fund the recommended cash offer by Carlsberg UK Holdings Limited for British soft drinks maker Britvic PLC.
Advising Bank of America and a syndicate of lenders on a $1.4bn multicurrency revolving loan facility agreement to be utilised by Aegon Ltd for its general corporate purposes.
Advising ICBC and a syndicate of lenders on the $465m Asian syndicated facility agreement and a $600m bridge facility for The Standard Bank of South Africa.

Lawyers

Leading partners

The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Practice head

Nick Hayday

Other key lawyers

Simon Middleton; Catherine Astruc; Richard Sharples; Will Turner; James Ingham; Joe Byron Evans; Marc Gilston