Luke McDougall
Deep experience representing a wide range of parties in UK and cross-border leveraged finance, corporate finance and restructuring matters.
Luke focuses his practice on UK and cross-border leveraged finance, corporate finance and restructuring matters. He acts on behalf of arrangers, direct lenders, equity sponsors and corporate groups on the financing of acquisitions, leveraged buyouts and portfolio acquisitions; on general corporate financing; and on the restructuring of leveraged groups.
His work is recognized by publications including Chambers UK and Global, IFLR and Legal 500 UK, which also named him “Finance Lawyer of the Year” for London in 2020. A client quoted by Chambers says Luke is “eager, bright, highly commercial and incredibly thoughtful as it relates to transactions,” while another says he “always goes above and beyond for his clients and is very calm under pressure.”
Experience
- Advised the lenders on the $1.145 billion financing provided for Advent’s public-to-private acquisition of dual-listed Israeli software business Sapiens International Corporation NV
- Advised the unitranche lenders on the $265 million of facilities provided in connection with the acquisition by CNP of Belgian-based Equine Care Group
- Advised seven banks, including the lead arrangers, on the €1.3 billion financing for Advent’s acquisition of French-based insurance specialist Kereis Group
- Advised five banks in relation to the £305 million asset-based loan financing provided to Wolseley, a portfolio company of CD&R
- Advised the unitranche lenders on the £600 million financing provided for CD&R’s acquisition of UK and French business services business OCS
- Advised six banks, including the lead arrangers, in connection with the refinancing of Advent portfolio company Rubix Group’s €1.9 billion of debt facilities
- Advised NASDAQ-listed Inspired Entertainment Group in connection with an issuance of private notes to refinance its £270 million senior secured notes
- Advised the unitranche lenders on the €65 million financing provided in connection with Summit Partners’ acquisition of Doctrine SAS, a leading AI company providing legal research and analytics tools
- Advised the unitranche lenders on the £310 million of facilities provided in connection with the acquisition by ICG of leading property management services provider Lomond Group
- Advised the unitranche lenders on the $410 million financing for Bridgepoint’s acquisition of business intelligence company PEI Group
- Advised the sole lender on the financing for Thoma Bravo’s public-to-private acquisition of international cloud provider EQS
- Advised eleven banks, including the lead arrangers, on the $3.5 billion loan and bond financing for Bain Capital’s acquisition of research, data and insight business Kantar from WPP plc and on the 2025 loan and bond refinancing thereof
- Advised the second-lien investors with respect to the privately placed second-lien facility to finance Hellman & Friedman’s €5.3 billion public-to-private acquisition of Nets A/S
News
Recognition
Chambers UK – Banking & Finance: Big-Ticket
Chambers Europe and Global – Banking & Finance, UK
Legal 500 UK – Acquisition Finance
Legal 500 UK – “Finance Lawyer of the Year,” London, 2020
IFLR1000 – Bank Lending: Lender Side, United Kingdom, Highly Regarded
Education
Prior experience
- Partner, Paul Hastings, 2015-2024
- Partner, Ashurst, 2014-2015
- Associate, Ashurst, 2006-2014
- Associate, Minter Ellison (Sydney), 2004-2006
Qualifications and admissions
- England and Wales
- New South Wales, Australia