High-Yield
Clients come to Cleary Gottlieb because of our reputation for innovative high-yield transactions and our extensive experience in U.S. securities, leveraged finance, M&A, liability management, and restructuring.
We have been at the forefront of the high-yield markets in Europe, the United States, and emerging markets at each stage of their development.
Our high-yield practitioners work seamlessly with our broader leveraged finance, M&A, liability management, and restructuring practices. This bolsters our ability to deliver the highest-quality work product on transactions with complex capital structures, cross-border aspects, or other novel features or particularly challenging issues—including innovative bridge-to-bond financings in the context of acquisitions and LBOs and financings in distress scenarios. It also enables us to optimally support our high-yield clients’ subsequent financings, transactions, and other legal issues.
From a covenant and structuring perspective, we pride ourselves on identifying and focusing on what’s most important:
- As issuer’s counsel, we have recognized experience in assisting debut issuers. We work closely with issuers and private equity sponsors to fully understand their needs and develop a package that is commercial yet works most advantageously over the life of the bond.
- As banks’ counsel, we similarly seek to develop a clear picture of issuer and sponsor needs and work to tailor creative and innovative solutions (if needed) that balance those needs with the integrity of the covenant restrictions and the overall credit.
Along with our familiarity with cutting-edge covenant trends and financing structures, we bring precision and rigor to diligence and disclosure matters, and we have deep experience in navigating disclosure and accounting issues and in crafting offering materials that are both effective for marketing and protective against litigation and reputational risks.
Notable Experience
Western Digital in a $2.3 billion high-yield senior notes offering.
La Financière ATALIAN S.A.S. in its €350 million notes offering, £225 million notes offering, and related €594 million bridge-to-bond facility, as well as its acquisition of Servest Limited.
The underwriters in a $800 million high-yield dual tranche Reg S/Rule 144A senior unsecured notes offering by JELD-WEN.
Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua S.A.B. de C.V. in a $260 million senior notes offering.
The underwriters in approximately $19.5 billion in high-yield bonds and convertible debentures by CEMEX since 2009.
Vallourec S.A. in its Reg. S/Rule 144A €400 million high-yield notes offering.
The underwriters in a $300 million senior secured notes offering by Enjoy S.A.
Korean Air in a $300 million high-yield senior unsecured notes offering.
CMA CGM S.A. in €1.4 billion of Reg S/Rule 144A high-yield notes offerings.
The underwriters in a $500 million high-yield notes offering by Rede D’Or Finance S.à.r.l., guaranteed by Rede D’Or São Luiz S.A.
Endurance International Group in a high-yield bond issuance in connection with its acquisition of Constant Contact.
The underwriters in $1.35 billion of high-yield senior notes offerings by Puma Energy Holdings Pte. Ltd.
Unifin Financiera S.A.B. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R. in a $450 million high-yield notes offering.
Kindred Healthcare in over $1 billion of high-yield debt offerings.
4finance S.A. as issuer in its $325 million senior notes offering and the related tender offer and consent solicitation for its existing $200 million senior notes offering.
Loxam S.A. in its €850 million high-yield bond take-out for its contested bid for Lavendon plc.
Publications
Events