Kyle Lakin

About Kyle Lakin

Kyle advises corporate borrowers and financial sponsors, and their lenders, on debt financing for their most important transactions. His knowledge and experience across financial products allows him to advise on the debt capital and commercial banking needs of a company through its corporate lifecycle and key transformative transactions. He provides innovative solutions to business challenges, and he assists clients on first-of transactions despite complex and competing obstacles.

Kyle’s experience spans many industries, but he has particular experience in the infrastructure, energy and industrials sector, and the tech and telecom sectors. He is a member of our global financial sponsors group and our global infrastructure and real assets group. Kyle’s extensive experience across industries and product types, combined with his ability to align clients’ long-term strategic considerations with ongoing transaction requirements, helps him to deliver creative solutions for clients both in the US and globally. 

Kyle is recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA (for Banking & Finance) and Legal 500 (Commercial Lending) and recognized as a rising star partner by IFLR1000.

He is also dedicated to the professional and social responsibilities of lawyers to effect positive social change. He has an active and award-winning pro bono practice, and serves as a mentor and diversity champion for junior lawyers. 

Recent work

Select corporate borrower and related experience

Investment grade financings

• Oracle on multiple financing transactions including a $15.7bn bridge loan facility to finance its acquisition of Cerner, its $6bn revolving credit facility and $4.36bn loan facility.
• Sonoco on:
  • its $4bn bridge facility and $2.2bn term loan facilities financing the acquisition of Eviosys.
  • its $1.2bn revolving credit facility.
  • its $700m farm credit term loan facility.
  • its bridge financings for the $1.3bn acquisition of Ball Metalpack and $330m acquisition of RTS Packaging.
• eBay on its $2bn revolving credit facility for general corporate and working capital purposes and $1.5bn commercial paper program.
• RWE on its $2bn commercial paper program and various letter of credit facilities.
• CVC on $1.2bn revolving credit facilities.
• JT International on the financing aspects of its $2.4bn acquisition Vector Group Ltd.
• bp PLC on the financing arrangements for its $4.1bn take-private of Archaea Energy.
• Stanley Black & Decker on the financing of the $3.2bn sale of its global electronic security solutions and healthcare solutions businesses to Securitas.
• Google on liability management and financing matters related to its $5.4bn acquisition of Mandiant, as well as related transactions with Blackstone and other private equity sponsor holders of convertible preferred stock of Mandiant.
• AstraZeneca on a new committed $17.5bn bridge-financing facility to support the financing of its $39bn acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals and financing matters on various acquisitions.

Other corporate financings

• Roku on its $300m revolving credit facility.
• JDSports on financing issues related to its $1.1bn acquisition of Nasdaq-listed Hibbett.
• Razor Group on the debt for equity exchange and refinancing of its $500m senior secured credit facility in connection with its merger with Perch.
• Cargill on the financing for its $4.53bn take-private of Sanderson and simultaneous formation of a $2.5bn JV with Continental Grain and private acquisition of Wayne Farms.
• TriNet on its $700m revolving credit facility to fund an equity tender offer, share repurchases, and other working capital and general corporate purposes, and on its $500m private offering of senior notes.
• Vertex on the amendment and upsize of their $250m revolving credit facility.
• Foundever (f/k/a Sitel Group) on the financing of its $2.2bn take-private of Sykes Enterprises.
• Stagwell on its $640m revolving credit facility.
• Zepz (f/k/a WorldRemit) on the financing of its $500m acquisition of SendWave.
• A large internation bank as lead arranger on Sally Beauty’s $400m senior secured term loan.
• The lead arranger for Turo’s $100m revolving credit facility.
• Barings on a $150 million delayed draw term loan facility extended to an insurance premium finance company.
• Capital One, as agent, on the restructuring of the senior secured debt of StoneMor.
• KLX Inc. on the financing for the $4.2bn sale of its aviation parts and services business to Boeing Co. and the spinoff of its energy services business.
• Springer Nature on:
  • the senior debt refinancing of its outstanding high yield notes.
  • the debt financing of its merger with Holtzbrink GmbH.
  • multiple refinancings and incremental increases.
• Windstream Services on:
  • the financing of its merger with Earthlink.
  • the financing of its acquisition of Broadview.
  • its ongoing issuances of incremental term loans for the refinancing of senior notes.
• JPMorgan in connection with its refinancing of the senior debt of BE Aerospace and financing of the senior debt of KLX Inc. in connection with the spin-off of KLX Inc. from BE Aerospace.

Private placements

• CVC Capital PLC on the issuance of $1.25bn inaugural issuance and $200m follow-on issuance of privately placed notes.
• Petershill Partners on the issuance of $500 million of privately placed notes.
• A major sports league on its $1bn capital raise through a private placement of senior secured notes to finance the general corporate and working capital needs of the league and its affiliates.
• RWE on the private placement of senior notes to finance a portfolio of wind projects.
• Hamakua Energy Partners on the private placement of its senior secured notes.
• Ferguson PLC (formerly Wolseley) on the private placement of its senior notes.
• Grosvenor in connection with the private placement of senior secured notes by a managed trust fund.

Asset based financings

• Razor Group on its ABL revolving credit facility.
• Buzzfeed on its $65m ABL revolving credit facility.
• Stagwell on its $150m receivables financing.
• Spartronics Inc. on its $50m ABL revolving credit facility and $75m term loan.
• Prima Wawona on its $800m OpCo/PropCo financing.
• Citibank in connection with a borrowing base commodities trading facility with a fund of Vermillion Asset Management, a subsidiary of Carlyle.
• KLX Energy in connection with its ABL revolving credit agreement.
• ING as administrative agent, lead arranger and/or lender in connection with the financing of two asset-backed loan facilities of subsidiaries of Capital One.
• Gramercy Capital on the financing of an arbitration claim against the government of Mexico.
• A major mining company on its arrangements with Gramercy Capital to finance an arbitration award against the government of Venezuela.
• A private equity sponsor on its arrangements with Burford Capital to finance an arbitration claim against the government of India.
• A Turkish telecom company on its arrangements with Omni Bridgeway to finance an arbitration claim against the government of Turkey.
• A major German telecom company on its arrangements with Tenor Capital to finance an arbitration claim against the government of India.

Select infrastructure, energy and industrials experience

• Solvay on its Department of Energy grant financing and intercompany financing arrangements in connection with its battery chemical manufacturing joint venture with Orbia.
• Cinven and Ufinet, a leading Latin America fiber optics and wholesale telecom operator, on the $1.135b term loan B and $175m revolving credit facility.
• ArcLight Capital Partners on:
  • the sale of its power plant portfolio company, Hamakua Energy Partners, to Pacific Current.
  • the financing of the sale to First Reserve of a portfolio of nine oil-fired power generation plants located in California.
  • the private placement refinancing of a power plant in Hawaii.
  • the recapitalization of a portfolio of generation facilities in the US and generation and carbon dioxide recovery facilities in Spain.
• RWE on the debt financing and equity sale of a portfolio of wind farms in Texas and Pennsylvania.
• Ontario Teachers and PSP Investments on the financing of their acquisition of Cubico, formed from their acquisition of a portfolio of renewable power generation assets from Santander.
• Dutch Infrastructure Fund on its preferred equity financing in support of its acquisition of a 33% stake in the concessionaire that operates the Northwest Parkway toll road in Colorado.
• EQT Infrastructure II on its acquisition and leveraged financing of Contanda (formerly Westway Group) a leading global provider of bulk liquid storage at port facilities. The transaction was commended by the FT US Innovative Lawyers’ Awards.
• KfW IPEX-Bank as senior lender and lead arranger on:
  • the financing of the development of a fertilizer manufacturing facility in Mexico.
  • the financing of the development of the world’s first flex mini-mill by Big River Steel and Global Principal Partners. The transaction was “North America Mining & Metals Deal of the Year” for IJGlobal and highly commended by the FT US Innovative Lawyers’ Awards.
  • the financing of development of a silicon smelter plant by Mississippi Silicon in Burnsville, Mississippi.
• Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Fund and Abertis Infraestructuras on the successful financial closing of the $1.14bn concession of the PR-22 and PR-5 toll roads in Puerto Rico, an Infrastructure Investor’s Global “Deal of the Year”.
• The lenders to the consortium of Highstar Capital, LP and Grupo Aeroportuario Del Sureste SA de CV on their successful bid for the long-term concession of Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Puerto Rico and the private placement financing.
• Industry Funds Management on its proposed bid and private placement financing solution for the long-term concession and lease of the parking system assets of The Ohio State University.
• Terminal Investment Limited in the exercise of an option to purchase 50 percent of Port Newark Container Terminal, LLC, a shipping terminal operator at the Port of Newark.
• the Regional Transportation District of Denver, Colorado on the $2.1 billion Eagle P3 commuter rail project, Project Finance Magazine’s North American Transport “Deal of the Year” and commended by the FT US Innovative Lawyers' Awards.

Select financial sponsor experience

• CVC on:
  • the financing arrangements for its portfolio company Ontic and recent upsizing, including a $125m revolving credit facility, and $1.425bn first lien term loan facility.
  • minority investment in Aleph Holdings.
  • minority investment in Acronis.
  • its acquisition of WebPros and the subsequent financing arrangements for WebPros, including a $60m revolving credit facility, $540m first lien term loan B and $145m second lien term loan.
  • the financing arrangements for its joint acquisition, alongside Messer Industries, of Linde and Praxair’s US business.
  • the financing of its acquisition of French microchip manufacturer Linxens.
• One Equity Partners on
  • the financing of its acquisition of Spartronics and of Spartronic’s subsequent acquisition of Primus Technologies.
  • the financing of its acquisition of Neology.
  • the financing of its acquisition of Bibliotheca.
• Goldfinch Partners on the financing of its investment in Vesta.
• Charterhouse Capital on the financing of its:
  • acquisition of BTG from Boston Scientific.
  • business combination of Mirion Technologies and GS Acquisition Holdings Corp II.
• Paine Schwartz Partners on:
  • the financing of its acquisition of Prima Wawona (f/k/a Wawona Packing Co).
  • the OpCo/PropCo financing of Prima Wawona’s merger with Gerawan Farms.
  • the financing of its acquisition of Lyons Magnus.
  • the financing of its acquisition of Food ID.
• Centerbridge Partners on the debt financing commitments of its acquisition of Sompo Canopius.
• BC Partners in connection with the financing of its acquisition of Springer Science+Business Media.
• MSD Capital on its subordinated debt investment in connection with the acquisition by Silver Lake and KKR of Ultimate Fighting Championship.
• Cinven and CPA Global in connection with the refinancing of CPA Global’s senior secured debt facility.

Select pro bono experience

• EarthSpark International, a non-profit pioneering smart, solar microgrids for electrification of rural communities Haiti, on its financing arrangements with NEFCO and the inaugural funding by the Global Climate Fund for the funding of public private partnerships to develop microgrids in Haiti.
• Sound + Science, an innovative after-school research lab in NYC for high school students interested in exploring the unique and deep connection between music, science, and technology, on its organizational formation and governance arrangements.
• FINCA International, Inc., one of the largest global microfinance providers, in the creation of a $200 million joint venture between it and IFC, KfW and FMO, and two socially responsible investment funds (responsAbility Global Microfinance Fond and Triple Jump). The transaction was IFC’s largest investment in the microfinance industry to date and was highly commended by the FT US Innovative Lawyers' Awards.