Our Approach

Our credit lawyers regularly advise banks and other lenders, as well as borrowers, on financings for acquisitions, bridge loans, recapitalizations, working capital and general corporate purposes. We have advised on some of the largest and most complex financings ever made.

Awards & Rankings

Davis Polk was ranked among the top law firms in bank lending transactions, according to Legalease’s The Legal 500 (United States) (2008): “Leveraging off a premium portfolio of blue-chip corporate clients, the department has been increasingly active in relation to major borrower-side acquisition finance transactions.”
Davis Polk was ranked among the top law firms in banking and finance transactions, according to Chambers USA (2008): “[Davis Polk] frequently advises on acquisition financings, representing both banks and corporate borrowers. In one highlight, the team advised Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold in obtaining $11.5 billion in senior secured credit facilities for its acquisition of Phelps Dodge, which featured bank, bridge and high-yield elements.”

Notable Matters

LBOs

NXP -- the largest LBO financing ever in Europe, led by KKR, Silver Lake, Bain and Apax; Davis Polk advised the underwriters on both the bank and bond financing
Warner Music -- an LBO led by THLee, Bain and Providence Equity where we advised the banks
Avaya -- an LBO led by TPG and Silver Lake where we advised the banks on the bridge/bond financing
Axcan Pharma -- an LBO led by TPG where we advised the banks on the bank and bridge/bond financing
Verso Paper -- an LBO led by Apollo where we advised the banks on the bank and bridge/bond financing
Education Management -- an LBO led by Providence Equity Partners and Goldman Sachs where we advised the banks on the bank and bridge/bond financing
Kronos -- an LBO led by Hellman & Friedman where we advised the banks on the bank financing
Tower Automotive -- an LBO led by Cerberus where we advised the banks on the bank financing

Acquisition Financings

Merck's pending acquisiton of Schering-Plough
InBev's acquisition of Anheuser Busch
Kinetic Concept's acquisition of Lifecell
Grupo Bimbo's acquisition of certain assets of Weston Foods

Sponsor-Side Representations

Tailwind's LBO of Pillar Processing
Crestview's LBO of Symbion
Metalmark's LBO's of Maxum Energy and Breitburn
Francisco Partners LBO of Numonyx
Quadrangle's LBO of Alpha Media
DLJMB’s LBO of Deffenbaugh