Dallas-based Angela Fontana and New York-based Leslie Plaskon jointly oversee the practice at Sidley Austin LLP, which focuses on acquisition finance and complex debt financing work for PE sponsors and their portfolio companies, as well as for investment and non-investment-grade public and private companies. Handling leveraged acquisitions and dividend recapitalizations, carve-out acquisitions and fund finance issues, the team on staff includes Dallas-based Kelly Dybala, who advises PE acquisition sponsors and works with companies to complete various debt financing deals, from mezzanine structures to subscription financing and restructurings. In New York, Joshua Thompson handles leveraged lending, liability management deals and structured finance, and Houston-based Daniel Allison focuses on clients in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Steven Rutkovsky is another key contact for private equity sponsors and corporate borrowers alike.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘A deeper bench than most people think and a real ability to leverage off the Sidley Austin platform globally.’
‘I have worked with Sidley on several occasions now and I think Sidley's largest differentiator is client service. We have worked on transactions on extremely tight timelines, and Neil Horner and the team have made themselves fully available to me. Sidley also has a very deep understanding of these esoteric assets which makes negotiating a transaction much more conducive, as they can point out certain risk factors as it associates to our underlying collateral.’
Key clients
- Apollo
- Amazon
- Athene Holdings
- Carlyle
- Darling Ingredients Inc.
- Flowco Production Solutions, LLC
- Generac Power Systems, Inc.
- Global Atlantic Financial Group
- KKR
- Mubadala
- MGM Studios
- Sixth Street
Work highlights
Represented Jefferies Finance LLC, as borrower and issuer, in its US$1.95 billion bank/bond financing.
Represented TowerBrook in connection with the financing of its carve-out acquisition of the IT support solutions business of altafiber.
Represented Wafra in the financing for its acquisition of Aquila Air Capital.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
Angela Fontana; Leslie Plaskon
Other key lawyers
Kelly Dybala; Joshua Thompson; Daniel Allison; Steven Rutkovsky; Neil Horner