Weil Gotshal & Manges and Winston & Strawn have bagged roles advising on the £350m refinancing of Liverpool Football Club.
The deal, which closed at the end of last month (25 January), saw Weil Gotshal advising Liverpool FC’s parent company, Kop Football, with Winston & Strawn advising one of Kop’s co-owners, George Gillett.
Weil Gotshal’s team on the refinancing was led by London finance partner Richard Ginsburg, assisted by real estate counsel Rupert Jones.
US advice was provided by Dallas corporate partner Glenn West. The firm is a regular adviser to the other 50% shareholder in Kop, US entrepreneur Tom Hicks, and last year advised him in relation to Kop’s £400m acquisition of the club.
Winston’s London team was headed by corporate partner Zoe Ashcroft, with the US team led by corporate partner Greg Bynan.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised Wachovia Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland as arrangers of the financing package, with banking lawyer Alex Mitchell leading the team. The package includes funds to support the construction of Liverpool’s new stadium at Stanley Park as well as providing capital for future player transfers.
Allen & Overy took the lead role for Kop last year on its acquisition of Liverpool FC in a deal that saw DLA Piper advising the club.
Ginsberg said: “It is difficult to do any type of financing in this market and both banks and the other legal teams were good to work with. Everyone focused on getting the facilities refinanced so they could get the construction of the new stadium under way.”
