Chris Medley

Chris advises bank and fund clients on cross-border debt financings, refinancings and restructurings. He has a particular focus on sponsor-backed leveraged acquisition finance and routinely works on the largest and most complex sponsor-backed financing structures in the European leverage finance market, including term loan B financings, bank and bond structures, unitranche financings and post-IPO financings.

Chris frequently works with, and is well known to, leading underwriting banks on underwritten term loan B financings and is likewise well known to direct lenders on unitranche financings.

Chris was previously seconded to the leveraged finance and high-yield teams of JP Morgan and Citibank, which gives him a deep understanding of the internal workings of origination, credit and execution teams, allowing him to provide practical and tailored advice to bank, fund and sponsor clients. He also spent two years on secondment to the firm’s Madrid office and speaks Spanish.

Work highlights

Recent examples of advising investment banks on underwritten term loan B financings include advising:

• the mandated lead arrangers on the €920m TLB and €160m RCF financing for CVC’s acquisition of Cooper Consumer Health
• the mandated lead arrangers on the TLB financing to support CVC’s bid for Unilever Teas
• the mandated lead arrangers on the financing for Astorg’s acquisition of the Corialis Group
• the mandated lead arrangers on the TLB financing for KKR’s acquisition of MasMovil Ibercom

Recent examples of transactions advising direct lenders on unitranche financings include:

• advising Permira, Natixis and others as lenders on the financing for the acquisition of Xceptor by Astorg
• advising Pemberton and others as lenders on the financing for the acquisition of Infinigate by Bridgepoint
• advising Apollo as lender on the financing for the acquisition of END Clothing by Carlyle
• advising Arcmont Asset Management on the financing for the acquisition of a stake in New Immo Group by Permira

Chris regularly delivers training for the Loan Market Association (LMA) on a variety of topics relating to leveraged finance, most recently on the developments which have transformed documentation in the European leveraged finance market in recent years as a result of the convergence between loan and high-yield bond products.

Chris also recently co-authored an article on “Intercreditor Agreements – 25 Years of Continuing Evolution” in the Loan Market Association’s “25 Years in the Loan Market” publication.

Chris studied law at the University of Bristol.

He speaks English and Spanish.