James Chesterman

James’s representative transactions and other matters include advising:

• A leading US bank in connection with the establishment of an account bank / escrow agency function
• A leading UK bank in connection with issues regarding settlement risk in loan syndication
• Various international and Middle Eastern banks in connection with the restructuring of Saad Trading
• Credit Suisse as agent in the restructuring of CGG
• HSBC, Rabobank, ING, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and JP Morgan in connection with the £935 million term loan facilities and £75 million revolving credit facility enabling Yildiz Holding to acquire United Biscuits from private equity funds managed by Blackstone and PAI Partners and the refinancing of that facility
• Certain bilateral bank lenders to LivaNova plc
• Various banks and CLOs in relation to the restructuring of Prezzo
• Lloyds Bank plc as arranger in the senior loan financing to Odeon Cinemas Limited
• Unicredit, as senior and security agent, in the restructuring of Kloeckner Pentapast, a German plastics manufacturer
• Barclays Bank PLC as security agent in the restructuring of Four Seasons Healthcare and the related rectification litigation
• HSBC as agent in the €2.38 billion and US$300 million financing for Altan Technologies to acquire Aricent Technologies
• Macquarie and Nomura in the £403.5 million financing for Jackpotjoy plc
• Advising the lead arrangers in the €900 million refinancing of Italo – NTV
• BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, and JP Morgan in relation to the €35 million super senior revolving credit facility alongside a €350 million high yield bond offering for SGD Group SAS (Saint-Gobain Desjonquères Group)
• JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Lloyds Bank in relation to term loans and revolving credit facility, in connection with a €257 million bond offering, for Oberthur Technologies S.A., a manufacturer of magnetic stripe cards, smartcards, and related software and equipment
• Schoeller Allibert on its an trade receivables financing arrangements in Poland, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, France, and England
• Venator Materials plc in its 2017 European ABL revolving credit financing with subsidiaries in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, and Spain
• TA Associates in its financing in relation to its shareholding in Inspired
• TA Associates in its acquisition financing of LIST SpA
• Centurion Partners in its asset-based margin loan financing
• Fine Art Fund in its lending activities secured on works of art
• Tynagh Energy in its financing arrangements
• Haymarket Financial on its loan facilities to Auto-Teile-Unger (A.T.U) Group, a German car parts retailer, on its emergence from restructuring in 2014
• Savannah Petroleum in relation to the ongoing potential restructuring and acquisition of Seven Energy
• Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation in its distressed acquisition of Grosvenor house Hotel and its related financing arrangements
• Pemberton in its financings to Dorea and Infinigate
• Wilmington Trust as security agent in the restructuring of Niko Resources
• Albacore in its fund financing facilities
• Helios Investment Partners on debt aspects of various equity investments
• Damovo Group SA, Schoeller Arca Systems, Deutz AG, and other debtors in connection with their debt restructurings
• The institutional noteholders in the consensual debt restructurings of SMG plc, MyTravel plc, Hagemeyer, Candover Investments plc, and Deceuninck (amongst others)
• Certain debt holders in the restructurings of Chorion, Vantico, Primacom, Cablecom, Inspired Gaming, BST Safety Textiles, Consolis, and Danaos Corporation

Thought Leadership

• “The Continued Prevalence of European Covenant Lite,” ICLG Lending & Secured Finance 2020

• “Credit Insights – Finding Liquidity Under Loan and Bond Documents” Latham & Watkins Article (April 2020)
• “Credit Insights – What Borrowers and Lenders Should Know About MACs During COVID,” Latham & Watkins Article (March 2020)
• “The Growth of European Covenant Lite,” Latham & Watkins Article (April 2017)
• “The Continued Migration of US Covenant-Lite Structures into the European Leveraged Loan Market,” Latham & Watkins Article (April 2016)
• “Covenant-lite Terms Continue to Develop in Europe,” Latham & Watkins Article (October 2015)
• “Cross-Border Special Situations Lending Update,” Latham & Watkins Article (October 2015)
• “New Opportunities in Cross-Border Special Situations Lending,” Latham & Watkins Client Alert (September 2015)
• “US Trends Affecting the European Leveraged Loan Market,” Latham & Watkins Article (July 2015)
• “Cross-border Leveraged Lending - US Intercreditor Agreements for Financings with European Elements,” Latham & Watkins Client Alert (May 2015)
• “Key Issues in Leveraged Lending,” Latham & Watkins Article (December 2014)