Daniel French

Practice Areas

Daniel is a leveraged finance and capital solutions partner with extensive experience across a broad range of complex cross-border debt financing transactions. He acts for lenders, corporates and sponsors on debt financing deals across the credit spectrum, ranging from investment-grade corporate facilities to limited recourse financings and leveraged buy-outs.

Career

Daniel joined our London office in March 2000 and worked there for a number of years before relocating to our Hong Kong office in January 2013. Daniel previously spent a year on secondment with the leveraged finance team of a major international investment bank in London and has also worked in our Singapore office.

Professional Memberships

Dual-qualified as a solicitor in Hong Kong and England & Wales

Work Highlights

- Advising a consortium led by Blackstone on the debt financing for its S$700m privatisation by way of a trust scheme of arrangement of Soilbuild, a Singapore listed REIT.

- Advising a joint venture controlled by The Rise Fund (TPG’s global impact investing platform) and Hong Leong Group on the debt financing for its RM1.34bn acquisition of the International Medical University Group, the medical education arm of the integrated healthcare services provider IHH Healthcare.

- Advising Permira on the debt financing for its US$838m acquisition of Tricor, a provider of integrated business, corporate and investor services in the Asia-Pacific region.

- Advising Affinity Equity Partners on the debt financing for its US$520m acquisition of Trimco, a Hong Kong-headquartered global apparel-labelling producer.

- Advising Warburg Pincus on the debt financing for its US$200m acquisition of Leyou, a Chinese baby care retailer.

- Advising a consortium led by ANTA and FountainVest Partners on the debt financing for its €5.2bn privatisation of Amer Sports, a Helsinki-headquartered global sporting goods business.

- Advising CVC on the debt financing for its ¥35bn acquisition of Hasegawa, a Japanese service provider business.

- Advising a consortium led by Sir Gordon Wu on the debt financing for its US$2.7bn privatisation of Hopewell Holdings, a Hong Kong-headquartered group with investments in property, infrastructure, hotels and restaurants.

- Advising listed companies (including CKHH, Alibaba and ESR) on a number of high-profile syndicated loan transactions.

- Advising international private equity funds and founders on a large number of share-backed financings secured over minority and co-control stakes in listed and unlisted companies across Asia.

- Advising Asia headquartered portfolio companies of international private equity funds on a wide range of corporate loans and refinancings.

- Advising CPPIB Credit Investments on a US$350m debt financing into a leading global edtech business headquartered in India.

- Advising an unlisted offshore holding company of a Chinese real estate business on its issuance of a US$300m convertible loan to Bain Capital Credit.

Education