Renowned for its impressive debt offering, several partners question whether Dillon Eustace's equity practice is as productive. "They are more debt than equity but they've got a very, very strong debt practice," observes one competitor....
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Renowned for its impressive debt offering, several partners question whether Dillon Eustace's equity practice is as productive. "They are more debt than equity but they've got a very, very strong debt practice," observes one competitor. The firm's list of recent deals does weigh heavily on the debt side but there has been dearth in equity work in the country, so it remains to be seen if the firm is still competing at this level.
Clients are unwavering in their support for the firm, viewing the lawyers at all levels, from partner to associate, as first rate. "In my experience, we have not yet run in to a single Dillon Eustace lawyer who is not excellent. I'm in Japan at some distance from the company we are working with and lawyers from Dillon Eustace are willing to jump and put in a call to a counterparty and that to me gives them their real strength," remarks one client, adding: "[They are] very, very client focused. I've never had to remind them about seeking a practical solution they are usually two steps ahead of me." Clients also value the level of experience and expertise. An international client who was recently advised by leading lawyer Conor Houlihan and Andrew Traynor said: "They have a deep knowledge of these areas and as a foreigner to Irish law it was very comforting to know you are in extremely good hands."
The majority of the firm's notable debt work has had a cross border element. A team consisting of partners, Houlihan, Andrew Bates and David Lawless advised the majority purchasers of a $75 million issue of senior notes backed by US life settlements in April 2011.
In a transaction related to the necessity for Irish banks to deleverage of non-core assets, the firm acted for a US insurance company on the acquisition of subordinated loans granted originally by Anglo Irish Bank and secured on US structured finance.
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Dillon Eustace’s seven-partner banking and finance team, headed by Mark Throne, have been predominantly occupied with international clients in the last 12 months.
Acting as Irish counsel, a finance team led by Conor Keaveny is advising a Russian bank on various debt funding structures for asset purchases, derivative transactions, and secured and unsecured credit facilities....
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Dillon Eustace’s seven-partner banking and finance team, headed by Mark Throne, have been predominantly occupied with international clients in the last 12 months.
Acting as Irish counsel, a finance team led by Conor Keaveny is advising a Russian bank on various debt funding structures for asset purchases, derivative transactions, and secured and unsecured credit facilities.
A further ongoing matter sees Keaveny, Karen Jennings and Claire Kennedy acting for a South African asset manager on various banking deals, including secured credit facilities and derivative transactions.
Closer to home, Keaveny, Kennedy and Adrian Benson advised a UK based bank on providing a secured credit facility for promoters of a trading company in the security industry. Closing in Q3 2010, the facility will be used to finance its expansion in Mexico and the US.
On the domestic front, the firm has continued to advise the National Assets Management Agency (Nama) on the transfer of assets to it from Irish institutions.
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Similarly to A&L Goodbody, Dillon Eustace's rank antagonises several of its peers who feel the firm is ranked superiorly by virtue of the quantity of funds it advises on, rather than the class of them. "They have scale but we wouldn't look at them as a competitor in terms of quality," one peer says....
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Similarly to A&L Goodbody, Dillon Eustace's rank antagonises several of its peers who feel the firm is ranked superiorly by virtue of the quantity of funds it advises on, rather than the class of them. "They have scale but we wouldn't look at them as a competitor in terms of quality," one peer says. But positive feedback coupled with a steady deal flow, that includes some notable first time deals, guarantees the firm its place in the top tier.
The impression of clients is that the firm are a leader in the Irish investment funds arena: "They're very good and we haven't found better in Ireland," remarks one. "They are excellent we rely on them very, very heavily," echoes another. An international client, who has retained the firm for the last three years found the firm to be impeccable in all areas: "I'd have to say our experience with Dillon Eustace has been very satisfying from a customer service perspective. I guess because they are a bit of a boutique in the sense they stick to the funds and financial services work, they are very switched on to the legislative issues and they are excellent value for money compared to others. Very practical, commercial and pragmatic and my business guys like them a lot. They also provide us with a lot of know how that they don't charge for whether it's brochures on industry occurrences or a lot of disks or memory sticks with information about the latest and greatest things that are happening on that side of the world." The client had dealt predominantly with partner Brian Dillon, who the client described as technically excellent, and more recently Derbhil O'Riordan, who made partner in 2010. Of O'Riordan the client said: "Very thorough, very commercial. I was very pleased with her work."
Partner Brian Dillon, who established the firm's Tokyo office before returning to Dublin, advised Bosera Asset Management on establishing the first Irish domiciled fund promoted by a Chinese regulated manager.
On the Ucit (undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities) side, partner Brian Kelliher, who makes his debut in the leading lawyers list after persistent recommendations, advised fund provider GAM London on establishing GAM Star Trading, a sub-fund within a Ucits platform.
A deal which supports the firm's status as market leaders saw partner Etain de Valera act on the first re-domiciliation of an investment trust from Cayman Islands to the country, where it was authorised as a QIF by the Central Bank. This deal now forms the basis for the Central Bank's official guidance in this regard.
The firm has also been active securing Irish regulatory approval for Ucits to gain 100% exposure to India.
There is general consensus from competitors that founding partner David Dillon is no longer active: "It's probably been ten years since he launched a fund, he's more of an elder statesmen marketing person," says one. The partner still, however, has stature within the market: "David Dillon definitely. He has been infinitely involved in the industry since its infancy."
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Competitors dispute whether funds specialists Dillon Eustace is active on M&A deals. While not usually involved in the significant transactions in May 2010 practice head Lorcan Teirnan did advise Suntory holdings on its €300 million acquisition of the spirits business of Irish drink producer C&C....
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Competitors dispute whether funds specialists Dillon Eustace is active on M&A deals. While not usually involved in the significant transactions in May 2010 practice head Lorcan Teirnan did advise Suntory holdings on its €300 million acquisition of the spirits business of Irish drink producer C&C.
More recently David Lawless advised network supplier TPG on the Irish aspects of the purchase of Ashland's global distribution business $930 million.
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