Ben Wilkinson

Selected lender-side mandates

• Acting for Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Nomura, UBS, KKR Capital, BNP Paribas, CACIB, NatWest and UniCredit as the mandated lead arrangers and original lenders in connection with the debt financing of the acquisition of Zentiva, Sanofi's European generic pharmaceuticals business, by Advent International Corporation. The debt financing included a senior facility including a EUR 680 million Facility B tranche, a GBP 175 million Facility B tranche and a EUR 125 million revolving credit facility, as well as a EUR 275 million second lien facility. He also advised the mandated lead arrangers on the debt financing for Zentiva's acquisition of Alvogen's business in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE), and a further incremental TLB debt raise of EUR 125 million.
  
  
• Acting for the arranger and original lender in connection with the debt financing of Ares Private Equity’s acquisition of Exemplar Healthcare.
  
  
• Acting for the arranger and original lender in connection with the financing of Advent International's acquisition of Vitaldent.
  
  
• Acting for Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and Societe Generale as lead arrangers and original lenders in connection with the acquisition of House of Creed, a multi-national perfume company, by BlackRock's Long Term Private Capital (LTPC). The debt financing consisted of a EUR 250 million TLB facility and a EUR 60 million revolving credit facility.
  
  
• Acting for J. Aron & Company LLC, an affiliate of Goldman Sachs, on its entry into an oil inventory monetisation arrangement with Nynas AB.
  
  
• Acting for Nordea Bank Abp on the financing arrangements for the combination of Konecranes Oyj and Cargotec Oyj comprising EUR 935 million term loan facilities for Konecranes Oyj and a EUR 400 million term loan facility for Cargotec Oyj.
  
  
•  Acting for Barclays Bank PLC (as the new term lender) on a USD 154.8 million incremental term loan provided to IT service management provider, Output Services Group, Inc.
  
  
• Acting for the mandated lead arrangers Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Rabobank, ING and ABN Amro, in connection with a EUR 515 million recapitalisation of the take-private acquisition by vehicles controlled by Advent International Corporation of shares in Mediq N.V. (now known as Mediq B.V.), a Dutch-listed international provider of medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
  
  
• Acting for Jefferies Finance LLC as mandated lead arranger in connection with the EUR 150 million term facilities for the refinancing of the Famar group.
  
  
• Acting for Deutsche Bank AG, as sole global coordinator and Deutsche Bank AG, Commerzbank AG, UniCredit Bank AG and HSBC Bank PLC as arrangers in connection with the refinancing and recapitalisation of Minimax by way of senior secured facilities comprising of EUR 315 million and USD 422 million TLB, EUR 141.5 million guarantee facility and EUR 40 million revolving facility. Acting for global coordinator Deutsche Bank and bookrunners Commerzbank AG and UniCredit AG in connection with the refinancing of Minimax Viking's financing arrangements.

• Ben is recognised as a key individual for acquisition finance and bank lending in Legal 500 UK, 2021