Caroline Phillips

Partner
Joined firm 2005. Partner since 2015.

Caroline is Head of our Debt Capital Markets practice. She has a broad international practice covering banking, capital markets, securitisation, derivatives and structured finance in which she advises issuers, borrowers and counterparties of all types. Caroline is qualified in England and Wales.

Caroline regularly acts for a number of UK and international companies – from FTSE 100 companies to large private companies, from PE Sponsors to their portfolio companies. Recent clients include: Athora, Aviva, Barratt Developments, Canada Life, Corsair, Currencies Direct, Drax Group, INEOS, Just Group, KPS, Ovo Energy,  Palamon, Pension Insurance Corporation and Walmart.

Recent highlights include:

  • advising Athora on the acquisition financing for its acquisition of VIVAT N.V’s life and asset management business from Anbang Group Holdings Co Ltd;
  • advising Drax on the entry into two environmental, social and governance facility agreements where the margin adjusted based on Drax’s carbon emissions against an annual benchmark – these facilities were the first of their kind for an electricity generator;
  • advising numerous insurers, including Aviva,  Canada Life, Just Group and the Pension Insurance Corporation,  on their RT1, T2 and T3 regulatory capital issuances and/or on complex collateral arrangements to support risk transfer arrangements;
  • advising Ovo Energy, the UK’s leading independent energy supplier, on its acquisition financing for the purchase of SSE plc’s GB household energy and services business;
  • advising various INEOS group companies on numerous financings, including, term loan B facilities, revolving credit facilities, senior secured note issuances, high yield issuances and trade receivable securitisations; and
  • advising PE Sponsors on the financing of their investments and providing ongoing support to the treasury functions of their portfolio companies.

Caroline is listed as “highly regarded” in IFLR 1000, 2020 for “banking”  and  is ranked in Legal 500, 2019 for acquisition finance, debt capital markets and high yield,  where she is described as “technically very gifted”.

She is  the European Regional Forum Liaison Officer on the International Bar Association’s Banking Law Committee and is a visiting lecturer, teaching banking and capital market finance on the Vrije Universiteit  (VU) Amsterdam’s Finance Masters course.