Haynes and Boone, LLP

Haynes Boone’s London office serves as a strategic hub for the firm’s international practice, offering clients seamless access to transatlantic legal expertise. Located in the heart of the City, the office is home to a dynamic team of lawyers who advise on complex cross-border transactions and disputes across key sectors including finance, energy, shipping, private equity, and capital markets.

The London team is particularly recognised for its strength in fund finance, debt capital markets, international arbitration, and shipping. It acts for a diverse client base including banks, private equity firms, hedge funds, multinational corporations, and sovereign entities. The office works closely with Haynes Boone’s U.S. and global network, ensuring clients benefit from integrated service delivery and deep market insight.

With a collaborative and entrepreneurial culture, the London office continues to grow its reputation for delivering high-quality, commercially focused legal advice. It is ranked across multiple practice areas in the Chambers UK and Global guides, reflecting its commitment to excellence and client service.

Corporate

The firm’s corporate lawyers possess extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, capital markets transactions, IPOs, takeovers, and related shareholder issues spanning both public and private transactions across a broad range of industries. In addition, the London office expands the international reach of our private equity and venture capital capabilities.

Debt Capital Markets

Our team represents UK and foreign debt issuers and underwriters in a full range of listed and private debt capital markets transactions, from EMTN programs to private placements and corporate bonds, including green bonds and social bonds. Our assistance includes structuring the offering terms, preparing the prospectus or offering memorandum, obtaining clearance from stock exchanges and the applicable regulator, and liaising with third party ESG (environmental, social and governance) raters for green or social bond accreditation.

Energy

The firm serves domestic and US and international oil companies with global development interests, independent oil and gas producers, offshore oilfield service contractors and equipment companies, as well as large commercial lenders, hedge funds and private equity firms. Our lawyers advise clients on a wide range of complex projects across multiple jurisdictions and sectors, including the upstream, midstream, and downstream oil and gas value chain, with projects ranging from unconventional resources to offshore developments, LNG, and refining.

Finance

The firm has extensive experience in fund finance, leveraged finance, real estate finance, acquisition finance, corporate facilities and financial institutions lending (including non-bank lenders and insurance), in each case across a broad range of industry sectors. We regularly advise financial sponsors, lenders, borrowers, investors, fund managers and central banks in relation to those core areas.

Insolvency

Our London office advises on all aspects of personal and corporate insolvency including cross-border restructurings, insolvency litigation and dispute resolution, directors’ duties and disqualification, fraud, asset recovery and enforcement. Our team acts for lenders, insolvency practitioners, creditors, directors and other stakeholders in circumstances where a company or individual is insolvent, experiencing financial difficulties or is the victim of a fraud.

As a multi-disciplinary law firm our team is also supported by experts in the fields of corporate, litigation, real estate, finance, employment, pensions and intellectual property.

We are involved in complex global restructuring proceedings and our cases often cross multiple jurisdictions working with clients from the US, the Caribbean, Hong Kong and other offshore jurisdictions. We have particular expertise in the investment funds, financial services, energy, construction and technology sectors.

We recognise that in insolvency scenarios clients need urgent, practical advice and our highly experienced team in the UK and US work together to provide realistic and achievable solutions to problems.

Project Finance

The Project Finance and Development practice group includes experience across all major disciplines that affect a client’s investment in a project throughout the project’s life — from early-stage development and regulatory issues through financing, mergers, acquisitions, restructurings and public offerings. The firm’s work includes representation of lenders, borrowers, risk insurers, investors, sponsors and contract parties/technology providers in projects utilising a broad spectrum of financing arrangements.

International Dispute Resolution

The firm has a substantial team of English law-qualified, disputes lawyers with a long and distinguished record of representing clients in court and arbitral proceedings, and in other forms of dispute resolution (for example, adjudication, expert determination and mediation). Although our clients are derived from a wide range of industries, we have built a formidable reputation acting for clients in the offshore oil and gas, shipping and infrastructure sectors.

Investment Management

Our London Investment Management team has unparalleled experience acting as cross-border counsel to UK and European fund managers who want to access capital across the globe. We integrate seamlessly with our established practice in the United States; together, we are well-situated to provide fund managers with comprehensive, market-leading advice both domestically and internationally and across the full range of mainstream and alternative asset classes and strategies.

Our practice focuses on the structuring and establishment of onshore and offshore investment funds, working on both complex established hedge fund vehicles and structuring for emerging first-time managers. Our clients also include investors such as sovereigns, HNWI and institutions. Our market-leading experience and an appreciation of both legal and business perspectives, we provide comprehensive support to hedge fund managers on all aspects and stages of their operation, from fund structuring and tax matters to compliance and litigation. Moreover, we provide strategic legal and commercial counsel across multiple jurisdictions, working closely with a network of strategic alliances covering all established fund domiciles.

Our practice is one of only a few law firms with a dedicated group of lawyers spanning both the UK and US, who focus on fund structuring, regulatory and compliance matters. This, coupled with our over 40 years of experience serving as principal counsel to many of the leading domestic and international funds and fund managers, allows us to bring a uniquely commercial offering to many service providers to funds on a wide variety of legal and regulatory matters. We serve clients as their trusted advisor in relation to restructurings, derivatives, liquidation, and all aspects of regulatory law including AIFMD, navigating FCA authorisation, and fund financing.

We have a wide range of experience in alternative investment funds, advising the full spectrum of fund managers, family offices, sovereigns, and entrepreneurs on strategies spanning credit, ESG, event driven, special situations, global macro, Greentech, cannabis, crypto emerging markets, long/short equity, quantitative, multi-strategy, fund of funds, commodities, and real estate. Such funds have been domiciled in various jurisdictions, including the Cayman, Ireland, Luxembourg, Channel Islands, UK, and the U.S. and beyond.

RECENT PUBLICATION:We are proud to present our Hedge Fund LaunchGuide (UK). You mayaccess the Guide here.

Real Estate

Our London office advises on all aspects of commercial and residential real estate, including investment, development, joint ventures and lettings. Our team acts for international investors, developers and funds and other institutions, as well as family offices and high-net-worth individuals in cross-border real estate investment and development transactions of all types. We represent landlords and tenants on their premises requirements and letting needs. Our clients come from the U.S., the U.K., Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region.

We are involved in direct and indirect investment in real estate, including setting up joint ventures and portfolios of assets in multiple jurisdictions. Our work includes all types of real estate assets, including data centres, offices, retail, multi-family and other residential, logistics and hotels.

Our lead partner, Mark Payne, has more than 30 years of experience in the real estate industry and has helped many international investors with their first investments in the U.K. and Europe. Mark has led the team on many iconic transactions, including Chelsea Barracks, Battersea Power Station and 70 St Mary Axe (the “Can of Ham”) in London. He has advised international funds on investments across Europe and joint ventures to buy and sell multiple assets across the U.K. and Europe.

We work closely with our colleagues in the U.S., while we can handle all of your English law needs outside the U.S. Wherever the assets are located, and wherever you are based, our London team will make your deal happen. We are known for our commercial and pragmatic approach and getting deals done.

Shipping

The firm has significant experience in relation to shipbuilding and ship conversion projects of all kinds. Our transactional and dispute resolution teams work closely together at all stages of our clients’ projects. The shipping team also has substantial experience in the construction and employment of passenger ferries, cruise ships and superyachts. For LNG projects, the office brings together project development, construction, transportation and gas supply experience on behalf of developers, suppliers and shippers.