News | Finance
Wednesday 9th May 2007
SJ Berwin LLP further increased its profile as a leading advisor to private equity houses and borrowers on financings in the UK retail sector after advising Jane Norman, currently one of the UK’s most rapidly growing fashion retailers, on the refinancing of its senior debt facilities with £132m of senior debt and second lien syndicated facilities arranged by Kaupthing Bank hf. The funding not only permitted Jane Norman to refinance its existing senior debt facilities on much improved terms but also allowed a substantial reduction in the amount of shareholder debt it owed.
The SJ Berwin team was led by Finance Partner Raji Bartlett (assisted by Associate Daniel Webster) and Corporate Partner Richard Lever. Kaupthing Bank hf were advised by DLA Piper (Peter Crichton).
For further information please contact:
Raji Bartlett, Partner on +44 (0)20 7111 2640, email raji.bartlett@sjberwin.com or Amanda Nassar, Business Development Manager on +44 (0)20 7111 2658, email amanda.nassar@sjberwin.com
Notes:
SJ Berwin LLP is a full-service international legal practice with more than 1000 employees across its offices in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris and Turin.
SJ Berwin was created and thrives as a leading-edge legal services business, focusing on the European and international market place. Our clients are sophisticated buyers of legal services, principally entrepreneurial companies and financial institutions, whom we advise on a comprehensive range of services including Corporate Finance, Commercial, Real Estate, Finance, Reconstruction and Insolvency, Financial Services, Litigation, Employment & Pensions, EU & Competition & Tax.
Our approach has resulted in the firm winning a number of recent awards including Best Law Firm (Fund Formation) (Private EquityOnline and Private Equity International) 2006; Competition Team of the Year - Legal Business Awards 2006; No 1 in Legal Week’s Law Firm Satisfaction Survey 2005; UK Firm of the Year - Legal Week Awards 2005; Law Firm of the Year 2005 at the EVCA/Real Deals Private Equity Awards for the second consecutive year; Real Estate Team of the Year - Legal Business Awards 2005; Real Estate Team of the Year - The Lawyer Awards 2005; Stephen Kon awarded Best Achievement in Copyright Practice at the World Leaders European IP Awards 2005; Jonathan Blake named Global Private Funds Lawyer of the Year by The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers; Jonathan Blake was admitted to The BVCA Hall of Fame, the only adviser to have done so.
The core Finance Department grew by 45% in 2006, an increase of 85% over the past three years. The department comprises 11 partners and over 40 fee earners. Key bank clients include Bank of Ireland, Bank of Scotland, Barclays Bank plc, Landsbanki Islands h.f., Lehman Brothers, Lloyds TSB Bank plc, NM Rothschild & Sons, Standard Chartered Bank , and The Royal Bank of Scotland plc. The department works closely with other departments within the firm, in particular the Financial Services Group on regulatory and derivatives work, the property finance group in the Real Estate Division and the media finance group. It advises a wide range of banks and other financial institutions, corporates and revenue capitalists. The growth of the finance practice in London is reflected in recent significant expansion in our offices in Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid and Milan, whose practices include both domestic and crossborder financings.
On 1 June 2005 SJ Berwin became SJ Berwin LLP, a limited liability partnership www.sjberwin.com
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