Although it does handle some mid-market lender-side leveraged finance work, DLA Piper's primary focus for corporate loans/syndicated lending is for borrowers which are appreciative of the firm's 'sound and pragmatic advice'. Team head Mark Dwyer has 'encyclopaedic knowledge on almost any type of financing', ensuring that he is extremely well liked by investment-grade and listed corporates for their financing needs, including in the context of certain funds financing. 'Commercial and considerate of the holistic picture when it comes to deliverables', Mei Mei Wong is also a key member of the team and regularly works alongside Dwyer on borrower deals.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘The team has strong legal knowledge, is pragmatic and gets the job done.’
- ‘Partner led but with capable associates who are willing to lead and engage with clients.’
- ‘The team handles the interaction between different facility types with ease – we have a number of funding structures that would necessitate collaboration across different teams and they do that well. Their advice is always sound and pragmatic.’
‘Mark Dwyer is very knowledgeable and helps to navigate any issues.'
‘Mark Dwyer seems to have an encyclopaedic knowledge on almost any type of financing that a financial services firm may encounter as well as the market colour on any given issue encountered.'
‘Mei Mei Wong is a pleasure to work with. Mei Mei is commercial and considerate of the holistic picture when it comes to deliverables.’
'Clara Fong has a tremendous work ethic, excellent market knowledge, great drafting skills and superb attention to detail. The advice she provides is always confident and well thought through.'
Key clients
- VEON Holdings B.V.
- Mothercare PLC
- Zedra
- Fremman Capital
- Sun European
- Duke Street
- Drax Group plc
- John Swire & Sons Limited
- Concord Music
- PCC Global Plc
Work highlights
- Advising John Swire & Sons Ltd on three financings designed to raise balance sheet liquidity in advance of some of the proceeds being used to fund the $3.9bn acquisition of the Coca-Cola bottling business of Swire Pacific.
- Acted for HSBC Innovation as mandated lead arranger and Citibank, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, two other major investment banks and two other major financial institutions as lenders on financing for Wise, a global payment services platform, listed on the London Stock Exchange.
- Advising Zedra Group on a unitranche/super senior (FOLO) portable financing package provided by Hayfin, Macquarie Capital and a major financial institution.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Next generation partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Practice head
Mark Dwyer
Other key lawyers
Toby Barker; Matt Christmas; Neil Campbell; Richard Normington; Mei Mei Wong; Charlotte Lewis-Williams; Lilly Alamir; Clara Fong; Patrick Flannery-Wheeler