AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Neel has been described by Chambers as the “godfather of sponsor leveraged finance in Europe” and “top of the market” and has been ranked Band 1 in Banking and Finance from 2007 to 2024. He is recognized as a “Recommended Lawyer” for Acquisition Finance by The Legal 500 UK and listed as a market leader by IFLR1000 UK. Neel has been named a “Legendary” lawyer in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 Lawyers in Europe list and Finance Individual of the Year (London) at The Legal 500 UK Awards.  Additionally, Neel was named “2024 Most Influential in European Finance” by Financial News, “2024 Twenty Most Influential in Private Equity Lawyers” by Private Equity News and “Big Law’s Top Lateral Hires of 2023” by Am Law.

EXPERIENCE

Neel has been a leading sponsor side leveraged finance partner for over 20 years.  He has advised numerous top-tier financial sponsors, including Abry, Advent, Altor, Apollo, Apax, Astorg, Bain Capital, BC Partners, Carlyle Group, Centerbridge, Core Equity Holdings, Five Arrows, Francisco Partners, General Atlantic, GTCR, Hg Capital, Investindustrial, KPS, L-GAM, Lone Star, Oakley Capital, Pollen Street Capital, Rhone Capital, Searchlight Capital, Strategic Value Partners, Sun Capital, TA Associates, TDR Capital, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Towerbrook Capital, Triton, Vitruvian and Warburg Pincus, among others.

Neel’s representative matters include:

• KPS Capital Partners in its €3.5 billion acquisition of Innomotics GmbH from Siemens AG
• EP Corporate Group in connection with the financing and structuring aspects of its possible cash offer for International Distribution Services (IDS) valuing the company at £5.2 billion
• TDR Capital on its acquisition of Acqua & Sapone, an Italy-based retail brand, from H.I.G. Capital and the founding Barbarossa family
• Altor Equity Partners in its acquisition of CCM Hockey, an iconic hockey brand based in Canada, from Birch Hill Equity Partners
• Pollen Street Capital on the financing aspects of its acquisition of Keylane Group B.V., a Netherlands-based software company for the insurance and pension industry
• La Doria S.p.A. on its issuance of €525 million of senior secured floating rate notes and entry into an €85 million revolving credit facility
• Francisco Partners, alongside TA Associates, on the financing aspects of its acquisition of Orisha, a France-based software company
• Bain Capital on the financing aspects of its potential acquisition of Somacis, an Italian company owned by Chequers Capital
• Fedrigoni, an Italy-based portfolio company of Bain Capital and BC Partners in the issuance of €430 million of senior secured notes and €300 million senior holdco pay-if-you-can toggle notes in connection with the refinancing of its existing debt
• L Catterton on its agreement to acquire a majority stake in BIRKENSTOCK Group, and Birkenstock’s subsequent refinancing of its existing credit facilities
• Investindustrial in the financing aspects of its acquisition, alongside The Bagnoli Family, of Forno d'Asolo from BC Partners
• Investindustrial in the financing aspects of its investment in Fassi Group
• House of HR, a portfolio company of Bain Capital, in connection with a €150 million Term Loan B (TLB) add-on to its existing €1.02 billion TLB financing facility
• Oakley Capital in the financing aspects of its investment in Steer Automotive Group
• TA Associates and Warburg Pincus in their joint acquisition of Epassi Group, and in Epassi’s combination with Exercite
• Hg Capital on its majority investment in Nomadia
• Bain Capital Private Equity and Cinven to obtain a new term loan facility for STADA
• PAI Partners and its portfolio company Albéa Beauty Holdings Sarl on the successful amendment, extension and refinancing of Albéa’s existing facilities
• Core Equity Holdings and the Provalliance Group on its refinancing
• HPS on financing for takeover bid for Canaccord Genuity Group
• Thomas H. Lee Partners on its acquisition of Bynder
• STADA Arzneimittel AG, a portfolio company of Bain Capital and Cinven, in its successful offer to exchange €1.4 billion in aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 3.5% Senior Secured Notes
• Francisco Partners on its acquisition of Kobalt
• Univar on a global ABL credit facility
• Bain Capital Private Equity on the €955.3 million public takeover of Caverion Corporation
• Five Arrows, TA Associates and Nordic Capital-backed RLDatix on the acquisition of Porzio Life Sciences
• Oakley Capital on the financing for the investments in Phenna Group and CTS Group in transactions valued at over £1 billion
• Parts Europe on its new €180 million super senior revolving credit facility entered into in connection with the acquisition of Parts Holding Europe by D’Ieteren Group S.A.
• Bain Capital Private Equity on the €3 billion acquisition and financing for Fedrigoni
• BC Partners on the financing of the acquisition of a majority stake in Havea
• Engineering Ingegneria Informatica S.p.A. and its shareholders Bain Capital and NB Renaissance Partners in connection with the financing aspects of the proposed acquisition of Be Shaping the Future S.p.A.
• The Access Group, Hg Capital and TA Associates on Europe’s largest ever unitranche financing on record
• Bain Capital Private Equity on financing for multi-billion euro acquisition of stake in House of HR
• HPS Investment Partners on the financing for the proposed majority investment in nucleus
• Bain Capital Private Equity on the sale of Geometric Results, Inc. to PRO Unlimited
• Bain Capital, as part of a consortium, on the financing for their investment in Italian Serie A club Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio S.p.A.
• Warburg Pincus on the acquisition of Pharma Intelligence from Informa PLC
• Warburg Pincus on the acquisition of Minesoft, a global patent solutions provider
• Fortius, a portfolio company of Warburg Pincus, on the acquisition of Once For All (Attestation Légale)
• Oakley Capital on the acquisition of a majority stake in TechInsights by Oakley Capital IV, alongside CVC Growth
• Affiliates of Lone Star Funds on the €5.2 billion sale of MBCC Group to Sika
• Inmarsat and its controlling consortium on the $7.3 billion combination with Viasat, Inc.
• Bain Capital on the c. €1.7 billion acquisition of ITP Aero from Rolls-Royce
• Bain Capital on its investment in Berlin Brands Group
• CPP Investments and BC Partners on the financing for the acquisition of CeramTec
• Carlyle on the voluntary public takeover offer for Schaltbau Holding AG
• Centerbridge Partners and APCOA Parking on its €685 million senior secured notes offering and €80 million super senior revolving credit facility
• Investindustrial Acquisition Corp. on its $3.2 billion business combination with Ermenegildo Zegna Group
• PizzaExpress on its successful refinancing, including an offering of £335 million of bonds and entry into its new super senior revolving credit facility.
• BC Partners on the acquisition of a significant stake in Valtech
• Searchlight Capital on the recapitalisation of Latécoère
• Oakley Capital on its investment in ICP Education
• Warburg Pincus on the agreement with Macquarie Capital Principal Finance to jointly acquire a majority stake in Premier Technical Services Group
• Investindustrial on the sale of the outstanding shares of Knoll Inc.’s preferred stock to Herman Miller, Inc. for a fixed cash consideration of $253 million
• TA Associates and consortium on the $2 billion acquisition of Unit4
• BC Partners on the financing for the acquisition of a majority stake in Davies
• HPS Investment Partners on its investment into the UK wealth management division of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.
• Klöckner Pentaplast, a portfolio company of Strategic Value Partners, in connection with its €1.9 billion refinancing, which included senior secured notes, senior unsecured notes and a term loan with ESG-linked ratchet
• Flexpoint Ford on its recommended cash acquisition of AFH Financial Group Plc
• The Carlyle Group on the financing for the acquisition of Jagex
• Allied Universal on the financing for a recommended £3.8 billion cash offer for G4S
• Francisco Partners on the financing of its $1.45 billion acquisition of CDK Global’s international business
• Bain Capital Private Equity and the consortium on the €2.1 billion proposed public takeover of Ahlstrom-Munksjö Oyj
• Searchlight Capital on its investment in the travel booking platform GetYourGuide
• Bain Capital and NB Renaissance Partners on the financing for the acquisition of Engineering Ingegneria Informatica S.p.A., including an offering of €605 million of high yield bonds and the issuance and private placement of €100 million of additional senior secured notes
• EP Global Commerce on the voluntary public takeover offer for METRO AG
• Hg Capital on the financing for its majority investment in Visma, valuing the business at an enterprise value of $12.2 billion
• Warburg Pincus on the investment in Polyplus
• Warburg Pincus on the co-investment in the combined group of Tilney and Smith & Williamson
• Oakley Capital on the sale of WebPros to CVC
• BC Partners on the investment in Advanced
• CPP Investments and the consortium on the acquisition of Galileo Global Education
• Warburg Pincus on the acquisition of Polyplus-Transfection, a French biotechnology company, valuing Polyplus at more than $600 million
• Bain Capital and Carlyle on the voluntary public takeover offer for OSRAM
• Hg Capital on the financing aspects of its acquisition of a majority stake in P&I, and P&I’s subsequent €455 million refinancing and dividend recapitalization
• Warburg Pincus, alongside Temasek, on the financing aspects of their acquisition of Specialist Risk Group, a UK-based insurance solutions provider
• Lone Star on the financing aspects of its €3.17 billion acquisition of BASF's Construction Chemicals business
• Warburg Pincus on the sale of Accelya to Vista Private Equity
• BC Partners and United Group on the financing aspects for the £1.034 billion acquisition of Vivacom
• TA Associates and Inspired Education on the financing and upsizing of existing facilities in relation to its acquisition of King’s College Schools
• BC Partners on the financing aspects of its acquisition of a majority stake in Synthon International Holding
• Investindustrial on the financing aspects of its acquisition of Neolith, a producer of sintered stone surfaces
• United Group, a portfolio company of BC Partners, on its acquisition of Tele2 Croatia
• Investindustrial on the financing aspects of its acquisition of Italcanditi SpA
• Investindustrial on the financing aspects of its acquisition of Natra, S.A.