U.K. finance lawyer Mark Wesseldine is joining Ropes & Gray, the firm announced today. The addition of Mr. Wesseldine strengthens the firm’s ability to serve clients on their financings and restructurings, including special situations.
Recognized as a leading practitioner for acquisition finance by Legal 500, Mr. Wesseldine joins Ropes & Gray from Fried Frank in London, where he was a partner in the corporate group. Prior to joining Fried Frank he was a partner at Allen & Overy.
Mr. Wesseldine’s experience encompasses more than 10 years of focus on the European leveraged finance market on complex cross-border financings and restructurings. He has acted for lenders, borrowers, private equity sponsors and specialist credit investors, and his recent experience includes acting for credit investors and special situation funds.
“With the addition of Mark we continue to enhance the services we offer to our clients in the areas of finance and special situations in London,” said Ropes & Gray chairman Brad Malt.
Mike Goetz, co-head of the London office, said, “We work with highly sophisticated investors and Mark’s experience in complex cross-border work will enable us to continue to service that market to a high level.”
This latest addition will bring the London team to 66 lawyers, including a senior team of 20 partners and counsel, and top-tier capabilities in debt finance, funds, high yield, restructuring, special situations, financial services regulatory, tax, corporate and private equity.
“Mark’s addition rounds out a significant team that enables us to provide clients with a complete spectrum of services from banking and high yield through mezzanine, direct lending and special situations/restructuring, all operating as part of an integrated practice,” said Jay Kim, partner and co-head of the firm’s global finance practice.
Mr. Wesseldine’s arrival comes as the firm has been achieving recognition for its work in London. Bloomberg ranked Ropes & Gray first by deal count and second by U.S. dollar value in the 2012 league table for Euromarket High Yield (ex-EM) Issuer Legal Advisers, and Legal Business honored the firm as “U.S Law Firm of the Year 2013.”
Ropes & Gray’s London office has handled recent high-profile transactions, including representing;
- Goldman Sachs European Special Situations Group and TPG in connection with all aspects of their bid for a portfolio of 37 loan assets being auctioned by Lloyds Bank.
- Liberty Global International in the financing for Liberty’s US$23.3 billion acquisition of Virgin Media.
- Sankaty Advisors in the provision of €170 million of mezzanine debt for the acquisition, by Hellman & Friedman, of a majority stake in Wood Mackenzie.
- Highbridge, MezzVest, Partners Group, JPMorgan, and KKR in the €1.82 billion acquisition of BSN Medical by EQT.
- Altice VII S.à r.L. on a US$1.1 billion Israeli high-yield debt offering in connection with the take-private and refinancing of HOT-Telecommunications Systems Ltd.
- Bitė Finance in connection with its €200 million high-yield offering.
- BlackRock on its acquisition of Swiss Re’s private equity fund of funds business.
