Shepherd and Wedderburn banking team reports double-digit deals growth with combined value of £132 billion

Shepherd and Wedderburn’s banking and finance team has reported a strong year for deals activity, with a 12% rise in the number of completed deals and a 41% increase in the overall value of transactions.

The team, whose clients include banks, funds, financial institutions, local authorities, corporate borrowers and sponsors, completed 162 deals in the year to April 30, with a combined value of £132 billion, up from 144 deals with a combined value of £93.4 billion the previous year. 

Transactions completed in the year included a number of sizeable real estate debt refinancings; residential mortgage and car loan securitisations; funding and refinancing major infrastructure and energy projects; and financing and refinancing corporate loan facilities to companies ranging from blue chip plcs to owner-operated, small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Notable deals completed by the banking and finance team in the 2017/18 financial year included:

• acting as Scots Counsel for a syndicate of lenders on $700 million loan facilities to North Sea  oil and gas explorer and producer INEOS UK E&P Holdings Ltd and its subsidiaries; 

• acting on the Scottish aspects of Volkswagen Financial’s £10 billion Driver UK Master C2 Programme Update and Issuance; 

• acting for a bank club on a £680 million debt refinancing to onshore wind energy provider Ventient Energy, covering 35 UK wind farms;

• acting for PSA Finance UK Ltd on Scottish aspects of its £400 million Auto ABS UK Loans 2017 receivables programme issuance;

• acting for Nord LB on the £56 million Inverurie Community Campus Hub Project, spanning design, build, finance and maintenance services for a new community campus, secondary school for 1,600 pupils and special school facility for 100 pupils; and

• acting for property investment group ICG-Longbow on the £50 million senior bridge and mezzanine refinancing of the Cornbow Shopping Centre in Halesowen, West Midlands. 

Fiona Buchanan, Head of Banking and Finance at Shepherd and Wedderburn, said: “Our top-ranked team worked on a variety of complex deals across a range of sectors and we are increasingly partnering with clients on pathfinder projects, combining our legal expertise with cutting-edge technologies. 

“The banking landscape continues to change at pace and this has been reflected during the past 12 months in the proliferation of our client base to include new market entrants, as well as established financial institutions. 

“The growth in our financial regulatory advisory practice is ensuring we meet the varying demands of these diverse market participants.”