Mayer Brown represents financial institutions and borrowers in their full range of transactional activities that require negotiation and documentation by sophisticated outside counsel. Our network of offices across the America, Europe and Asia gives us the collective strength of 300 experienced finance lawyers with a deep understanding of our clients' commercial needs. The following offers a brief outline of the services that we offer our clients in this area:

• Acquisition Finance. We are one of the most active law firms representing banks and other institutional lenders and borrowers in senior secured, syndicated acquisition financings, mezzanine financings, refinancings and recapitalizations. We have represented agent banks and bank syndicates in financings for virtually all major LBO sponsors and private equity firms, including hostile tender offers and multi-jurisdictional cross-border transactions. Working with our high yield and subordinated debt team, we are a "one-stop" shop for bank/bond acquisition and leveraged financings, including the providing of bridge commitments and facilities and first lien/second lien financings.

• Asset-Based Lending and Receivables Financings. We have a well-established strength in asset-based lending (ABL) – a technique which is becoming an increasingly common component of multi-tier debt structures. Our ABL experience is also proving valuable in the acquisition finance arena. We represent a number of asset-based lenders providing financing for leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and working capital needs. We have extensive experience in creating and perfecting liens on, and security interests in, various types of collateral, as well as with fraudulent conveyance and other business and legal issues associated with this type of lending activity. Our asset-based finance experts work closely with our firm's workout and bankruptcy experts giving us extensive experience in cash collateral arrangements, relief from stay, collateral valuations, debtor-in-possession financings, plan formation and confirmation.

• Distressed Debt and Non-Performing Loans. We are recognized as one of the leading law firms in the European distressed debt and non-performing loans ("NPL") market. We regularly represent sellers and buyers in major NPL transactions as well as in their day-to-day trading activities. Documents created by our firm have established market standards, particularly in Germany, and are indirectly used by a variety of participants. Our expertise includes the financing of NPL transactions via leveraged loans and securitizations.

• General Corporate Lending. We routinely represent individual lenders and syndicates of lenders, as well as insurance companies and other private purchasers of debt instruments in secured and unsecured general corporate and working capital facilities of varying complexity, including competitive bid facilities, multicurrency facilities and particularly in cross-border facilities.

• Islamic Finance. In keeping with our track record of working on innovative and complex transactions, we have considerable experience of advising on structures and arrangements for finance transactions that comply with Shari’ah principles. We have, for many years, advised lenders in connection with the provision of debt finance for the purchase of real estate investments using Shari’ah compliant structures. We have also worked on Shari’ah compliant structures for sale and leaseback transactions; debt financing; joint ventures, and Shari'ah compliant insurance and reinsurance (takaful and retakaful) arrangements.

• Syndicated Lending. We represent arrangers, agents, participants and borrowers in the negotiation of domestic and international syndicated, secured and unsecured, loan facilities. This work includes credits, multi-currency loans, letter of credit and guarantee facilities, sub-participations, assignments and transfers, debentures, guarantees, letters of comfort and all other forms of security.

• Trade Finance and Letters of Credit. We advise on matters of trade finance including the structuring of sophisticated structured trade finance transactions, documentation issues (including letters of credit and bank guarantees), syndication of letters of credit (direct and by way of sub-participation), pre-export facilities, buyer and supplier credits, validity, discrepancies, non-acceptance and non-payment of letters of credit and bills transactions. We also have particular experience in structured/multi-sourced financings which are supported by expert credit agencies, multi-lateral agencies and vendor financiers.