Debt Finance

Winston has one of the deepest Leveraged Finance practices in the U.S. Winston’s lawyers advise leading commercial and investment banks, credit funds, direct lenders, mezzanine lenders, and private equity investors as lead arrangers, underwriters, placement agents, and senior and junior lenders in domestic and international financing transactions, including acquisition and leveraged buyout financings, refinancing, and recapitalization transactions. Our practice operates across industries, including professional services, commodities, consumer products, digital assets, energy, financial services, food and beverage, governmental services, health care, manufacturing, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, real estate, retail, technology, telecommunications, and transportation.

Our clients rely on us in connection with broadly syndicated loans and club executions, in both the middle markets and large-cap market, across the entire capital structure, as well as public and private offerings of debt securities, including investment-grade and high-yield debt offerings, add-on high-yield offerings, offerings involving senior and subordinated convertible bonds, and other debt and equity hybrids. Our experienced and dedicated attorneys are focused on delivering sophisticated legal experience and the latest market knowledge to providers of senior debt, subordinated debt, mezzanine debt, unitranche facilities, and minority equity.

Winston’s leading asset-based lending team represents banks and direct lenders in a broad array of asset-based financing transactions, including broadly syndicated, club, and bilateral credit facilities. Our team has exceptional experience in complex asset-based transactions involving term debt subject to intercreditors, subordination agreements, and agreements among lenders, as well as multicurrency and cross-border asset-based facilities. We have the exceptional legal acumen of legal knowledge necessary to help our clients navigate aggressive, fully committed acquisition, public company, and middle-market financings.

We work closely with our bankruptcy and restructuring team to provide the “cradle-to-grave” legal services that our asset-based lending clients require. This cross-team approach ensures seamless legal service for troubled credits, debtor-in-possession financings, and exit financings. We also represent banks, direct lenders, and oil and gas exploration and production companies on reserve-based financing arrangements as well.

We advise sponsors in a wide range of debt transactions necessary to finance all aspects of their investments, including leveraged buyouts. We have handled multiple billions of dollars in debt transactions in the support of nearly all nationally recognized sponsor finance providers. We have built an active borrower-side practice, which is why many of our long-standing clients turn to us for all of their debt capital needs. We assist corporate clients and private equity sponsors with structuring, negotiating, documenting, and closing a wide range of financing transactions. We gain a thorough understanding of our clients’ businesses and capital structure and develop approaches to suit their dynamic financing objectives.