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. Daniel has particular expertise acting for sponsors on leveraged financing for buy-outs (including LBO facilities, financing for bolt-on acquisitions, refinancings and dividend recaps) and back-leverage for minority and co-control investments. Daniel also has extensive experience acting for borrowers and lenders on corporate loan facilities across the credit spectrum.

Career

Daniel has been with Freshfields for 25 years and based in Asia for over 12 years. Before relocating to our Hong Kong office in January 2013, Daniel spent a year on secondment with the leveraged finance team of a major international investment bank in London and 6 months on secondment to 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 and financing advice in relation to the subsequent sale to a consortium led by Lendlease and Warburg Pincus.

• 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), including a dividend recap and incremental to fund a bolt-on ahead of the eventual sale to BPEA.

• Advising Affinity Equity Partners on the debt financing for its US$520m acquisition of Trimco (a Hong Kong-headquartered global apparel-labelling producer), a dividend recap and backstopped consent process to allow for portability in connection with ahead of the eventual sale to Brookfield.

• 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 a consortium led by FountainVest on the senior loan facilities arranged and underwritten by a Chinese bank for its acquisition of a majority stake in a Swiss-headquartered business.

• Advising FountainVest on the debt financing arrangements in connection with its investment in a pan-European manufacturing business.

• Advising Grobest (a pan-Asian aquaculture business established as a 50/50 joint venture between Permira and the founders) on its TWD10.4bn term and revolving credit facilities, including a backstopped consent process to amend and extend these facilities.

• Advising Blackstone on the senior loan facilities for its acquisitions of the Conrad and Anantara hotel resorts in the Maldives and a subsequent refinancing in connection with the contribution of these assets to a joint venture vehicle and subsequent IPO in India.

• 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 (including investments in China, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam).

• 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 international credit fund in its investment in privately placed high-yield bonds issued by a major Indian conglomerate. The transaction was structured to inherit VRR benefits using a credit-linked derivative and backed by collateral with novel characteristics.

• 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