In a further expansion of its leveraged finance practice, Milbank has appointed Laetitia Costa as special counsel based in the firm’s London office.
Costa joins Milbank from the Paris office of Clifford Chance, where, as counsel, she focused on and has been involved in major European leveraged finance and debt restructuring transactions, including the EUR1.3bn financing of the acquisition of Financière Spie from PAI, the EUR545m financing of the acquisition of Compagnie Européenne de Prévoyance (CEP) and the restructuring of EUR800m debt owned by Deutsch.
Her expertise expands also to syndicated lending, structured finance and real estate transactions. She acts for lenders, financial sponsors and corporate entities.
Costa will join Milbank’s integrated European leveraged finance team, comprising lawyers with experience in senior lending, bridge loans, high-yield debt, mezzanine and PIK debt, M&A, private equity, derivatives, tax and financial restructuring across the full range of leveraged and acquisition finance transactions, including infrastructure, leveraged and investment grade financings and refinancings.
Milbank has been active on French LBOs and restructurings for a number of years. Recent mandates include the high yield refinancing of Elis, owned by Eurazeo, the refinancing of Photonis, owned by Axa, and the restructuring of Novasep.
London-based European leveraged finance practice head Suhrud Mehta says: “We are pleased to have Laetitia join our team in London. Her French and cross-border expertise coupled with the strong relationships she has across the French market make her a strategic hire in terms of expanding our offering.”
