IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

"Norwegian banks faired pretty well, no instability in the system and some very large deals," says one partner, "the banks are back in business and the deals are getting very large". The market has seen a shift away from UK and Dutch led financing to pure Norwegian led deals with DnB NOR and Nordea being "by far the biggest".

"We can do it here, why need London," asks one lawyer. "Nordic banks have been so strong, we're no longer seeing syndicated loans led by international banks with Norwegian banks involved, Norwegian banks are now handling loans completely in a club form," says a partner, adding that "things are being fully underwritten by Norwegian banks".

The reason for the strength in the domestic banking system is because, in the words of one commentator, the "economy has been very sound and predictable".

Private equity (PE) has been active, with consecutive deals in 2010 and 2011 marking milestones for the largest private equity deal so far. "PE is definitely back in the market," says a partner, "two or three years ago banks would not touch the PE funds... now it is back to normal business, easier to get PE financing and financing in general." "Definitely picking up again," says another, "much more acquisition, banks have a lot more appetite and it looks like there are sellers as well, and PE firms are having to exit as they can only keep things on books for five years."

Elsewhere, firms note that a "wall of debt" is coming up: "Many companies secured financing in 2007 with five year maturities and they are coming up for refinancing".

Project financing continues to be driven by, and often referred to as, shipping and offshore. Solar energy has been attracting some financing while public-private partnerships (PPP) have not been used widely for the reason being that "the economy has been very strong" so there is no need for it, and that the current Labour government does not look too favourably on PPPs.

BA-HR is in the 'magic-circle' of Norwegian firms and holds its place within the top four. It has a long list of very experienced partners but there are chinks in its armour. "They have a strong team but I am eager to see who will be coming up through the ranks," says a competitor.

Richard Sjøqvist heads the banking and finance practice and leads on many of the firms top deals. "The most visible and active, see him all the time," says one competitor, while another seconds the comment: "very active and very good." Another peer says "I would trust him with any business I have".

The firm turns over perhaps fewer financing deals than some of its direct peers but it lands very high value mandates. The biggest recent deal saw Sjøqvist work with Anders Gullåsen to advise a syndicate of more than 15 banks including Nordea Norge as lead arrangers on $2.4 billion loan to BW Offshore, the largest syndicated deal ever arranged in Norway.

Another high value deal, evidence of the considerable activity in the Norwegian offshore sector, saw Audun Nedrelid advise Lloyds Bank Group in January 2011, working alongside Norton Rose handling the UK law side, on a $1.1 billion financing of the sale of two rigs to Seadrill.

In other banking work mixed into multi-faceted financings, Sjøqvist and Ida Marie Odegaard assisted Pareto Securuities and Natixis on a $117 million bank loan to Floatel International combined with a high-yield bond issuance and Terje Sommer, Gullåsen, Arne Tjaum and Morten Smørdal acted for Aker Drilling on a complex refinancing involving a bond issuance, IPO and bank loan.

Thommessen is arguably leading the pack at the moment in corporate finance in terms of the reach and quality of its reputation. The banking team, led by Hans Haugstad, is no exception. One client also comments that the firm "coordinates very well with international foreign law firms".

"If you can get him," says a client, "I would say [Haugstad] is probably the best guy in Oslo with respect to finance, he is knowledgeable, efficient, very good on the commercial side of matters, very good at finding solutions and solving problems, and therefore a good guy to have on your side". "Private equity, real estate, all kinds of financing other than ship financing, very active and very good," says a competitor of Haugstad.

Thommessen has a good restructuring practice led by Jo Rodin and is also very active in ship finance. Siri Wennevik is the public-private partnership expert with experience in road project PPPs and PPP wind farms, working with partner Berit Stokke.

Haugstad led on a number of large financings, including advising (with Allen & Overy on US and Singapore law) a syndicate led by DnB NOR Bank and Eksportfinans on one of the largest finance deals done under Norwegian law in recent years. The syndicate agreed a €1.27 billion revolving facility and export term facilities of €165 million to the Renewable Energy Corporation.

Haugstad also advised a syndicate of banks on refinancing a $200 million export facility and €191 million revolving facility to Cermaq and a DnB NOR Bank led syndicate on a refinancing of a €600 million revolving credit facility to Marine Harvest.

Wennevik acted for a syndicate led by Nordea Bank Norge on a $60 million credit facility to Eitzen Ethylene Carriers and others, and for Havila Shipping on facilities totalling $67 million.

Wiersholm Mellbye & Bech has a very broad financing practice and has handled some very large private equity acquisition financings, syndicated loan agreements, revolving facilities and public-private partnership (PPP) related transactions.

The firm's top three lawyers are Leif Moltke-Hansen, Erik Ramm and Kaare Sverdorp. Clients see Ramm as "very, very experienced" and an "excellent commercial lawyer", while peers say Sverdorp is "a new generation banking partner who we see often".

Ramm advised DnB NOR Bank as agent on behalf of a syndicate of banks for a €572 million exploration facility to Det Norske Oljeselskap, involving over 70 production licences. Moltke-Hansen was perhaps the most active, handling a string of different types of high value financings. Among them, he led teams to act as supporting counsel to Linklaters London advising Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank on a $400 million revolving facility to PGNiG Norway to finance the Skarv oil field.

Moltke-Hansen was also engaged by Altor Equity Partners for acquisition financing of €190 million from Nordea Bank Norge, by Goldman Sachs and RBS on a $550 million facility to KCA Deutang Drilling and by RBS on its sale of non-core project finance assets including the sale of two financings in Norway with Agder OPS Finansselskap and Agder OPS Vegselskap as borrowers.

Sverdorp led teams to advise Continental and its Norwegian subsidiary in connection with Europe wide amendments to a €13.5 billion facilities agreement between Continental and a syndicate of banks led by Commerzbank and Ocean Rig subsidiary Drillship Holdings in connections with $800 million facility from a syndicate of international banks.

"When it comes to offshore I think they are the best," says one client of Wikborg Rein & Co, "you can always call them day or night and put them to work immediately". Another client adds that "the overall service is the main thing that we like, they have been very good. They know our company inside out so they have the background on where we're coming from and they can jump on the train very quickly".

Other clients like the firm's international ability thanks to its "very good network with other law firms". Finn Bjørnstad, says one client, is "one of the top three individuals for shipping and offshore and complex takeovers". Commentators recommend him for construction and financing and aside from the leading lawyers also recommend Alexander Owesen. There are some criticisms from peers however, with one competitor believing that "they have many very good people, good individuals just don't have the team".

Bernhard Haukali handled a string of large financings, advising Eksportfinans and ABN AMRO on a €320 million expert financing of six new anchor vessels for Siem Offshore, DnB NOR Bank and Deutsche Bank on a $90 million refinancing of two LPG gas carriers owned by Reederei F Laeisz and DnB NOR Bank on a €300 million financing of a major state owned logistics company.

Johan Rasmussen acted for DnB NOR Bank on a $900 million financing of two drilling rigs owned by Aker Drilling and won two large mandates from Nordea Bank, a €635 million financing of a major Norwegian privately owned investment company and a $550 million Financing of SeaWell a major oil service company.

Long serving partner Wilhelm Damm and Jo Stokke had active years in both straight bank lending and on the project finance side supported by a team of senior lawyers and associates most often including Camilla Skøie Mørkve, Eyvind Larsen and Hans-Christian Donjem. Jarl Dybvik, Anne Gro Sundby and Geir Frøholm also led teams on ship, energy and construction financings.

On the banking side, Damm advised syndicates led by Nordea Bank Norge on senior loans and credit facilities of $532 million as part of a rig and corporate refinancing to Songa Offshore. He also advised on a financing of €52 million to North Sea Giant for one of the world's largest supply vessels.

While Damm advised Nordea Bank in various other capacities in relation to financings for the Eitzen Group, Stokke was kept busy on a series of mandates by insurance company If Skadeforsikring.

On the project finance side, Stokke acted on substantial financings for the development of office and residential areas. Dybvik helped a Norwegian lender refinance two Norwegian ship owning companies for €83 million and Sundby, Sindre Søndenå Andersen and Donjem worked together with Watson Farley & Williams (for the UK law matters) to assist Jæren Energipark on a €89 million financing for the construction of wind farm near Stavanger.

In a final notable deal, Frøholm advised Statkraft alongside Hogan Lovells on the construction of a €635 million Norwegian financed power plant in Turkey.

Selmer's banking and finance team has had a strong year and added a new partner in Tor Herdlevær from an in-house position at Orkla. The firm boasts one of the best teams in banking regulatory and is especially well embedded with the country's savings banks.

"Very good" says one major client, "we did some very good work together on corporate and on financing, they helped a lot and were good on all aspects and good value, reasonable and open to discussion".

The team acted on a list of significant financings. Einar Grette advised DnB NOR Bank, Handelsbanken and BN Bank on refinancing to Norgani Group prior to its sale to Sech Holding, which marked the largest property transaction in Norway. The refinancing involved almost €800 million and a number of jurisdictions.

Grette worked with Katriina Kekkonen to advise Morpol on a €250 million loan facility from DnB NOR Bank alongside a €64 million bond loan to refinance existing facilities and finance acquisitions and working capital. The deal involved a number of jurisdictions with the firm coordinating with Dewey LeBoeuf in Warsaw, Holmann Fenwick Willan in London and Latham & Watkins in Hamburg.

Katriina Kekkonen advised Njord Gas Infrastructure on financing for its acquisition of ExxonMobil's interest in Gassled, the pipeline transporting gas from the Norwegian continental shelf. The financing of €1.3 billion is a mix of bond issues and a standby liquidity facility from DnB NOR Bank.

Regulatory partners Bernt Olav Steinland and Knut Endre were also busy advising SpareBank 1 SR-Bank (Norway's largest savings bank) on its conversion from a savings bank to a public limited company.

Erlen Bakkend and Rune Haglund led on most of the debt and banking deals for Arntzen de Besche. The firm, known as a leading oil and gas firm, also made a couple of notable hires to its finance team in 2011, recruiting senior lawyer Atle Gabrielsen from Wiersholm to a partnership position and senior lawyer Kjersti Aksnes Gjesdahl from the Financial Services Authority.

Gabrielsen in particular seems a smart recruitment. He is well regarded by peers for loan transactions and ship finance and says one, "it will be exciting to see how that will pan out".

Clients describe the team as "young", "service minded" and "intelligent". "We are very happy with them, they are strong in oil and gas and quite strong in finance," says one, "their strong point is communication, they will always call right back."

In one of its banking deals, Bakken and Atle Stensrud advised Investec Bank, Macquarie Bank and Standard Bank along with Watson Farley & Williams (for UK law) on an $84 million loan to the Oslo listed Sevan Marine.

Meanwhile Haglund was regularly engaged by SpareBank 1. Three mandates saw him advise on a €66 million construction facility to Bergen Group Fosen to build an OCV vessel, a €70 million facility to fish farming company Norway Royal Salmon, and a €153 million syndicated construction facility again to Bergen Group Fosen, in March 2011, to build two Ropax night ferries for Fjord Line.

Competitors note that Haavind has been enjoying a growing presence in the finance market. Trond Kildal, a former in-house at Handelsbanken and associate at Wiersholm, heads the banking practice with the support of the experienced Peter Brechan.

One client belives the firm is "younger and more dynamic in mindset than some of the bigger firms and stack up in terms of quality". The client praises the firm's "high energy" levels.

Possibly the highest profile deal, which made other firms tae note, saw Brechan and Kildal advise Nordea Bank on a €103 million financing of the acquisition by EQT, Scandinavia's largest private equity manager, of Haflsund Fibernett, the largest dark fibre operator in the central areas of Norway. It was notable for the size of the deal and the standing of the parties involved.

Kildal also recently acted for private equity company Nordic Capital on €254 million of financing or its acquisition of Handicare, which has production facilities in a number of countries. He advised Nordea Bank on a $500 million refinancing of a large barge operator and with Peter Brechan on a €165 million acquisition financing to EQT.

Kildal and Håvard Skogvoll assisted Sector Eiendomsutvikling on an €890 million financial restructuring of a shopping mall owner (property fund) prior to selling. Brechan advised ISS alongside Slaughter and May in London on a €1.65 billion refinancing of Norwegian operations in preparation of listing of Parent following planned exit by EQT and Goldman Sachs.

Simonsen keeps its position in the ratings. Peers note that firm does a fair amount of work for Nordea Bank and on in shipping finance for the Fredriksen group of shipping companies, which include Marin Harvest.

Steenstrup Stordrange is visible in the market. Competitors note that it is strongest in the private equity field for borrowers and banks.

Anders Monrad is the primary banking and finance face of Vogt & Wiig, while partner Christine Rødsæther is well known by peers for her shipping finance expertise while Erik Solheim also lead on some good mandates. Peers comment that private equity and shipping are two areas in which the firm is strong.

Monrad leads on most of the firm's big financings often with senior associate Siri Bjørn in support. In standout instructions, he advised DnB NOR Bank and Innovation Norway (owned by the Norwegian state) in connection with a rescue operation involving a re-financing and restructuring of the Norwegian based international paper company Peterson Group.

Monrad also acted for DnB NOR Bank in relation to two other large deals: the real estate development project "Jåttavågen - Hinna Park", where Aker Solutions is building a new office block (which includes a sale and leaseback partly financed by private equity investors); and the acquisition of the Danish real estate company Nordania Ejendom, again partly financed by a private equity syndicate arranged by Fearnley Finans.

Rødsæther advised Nordea Bank Norge (as leader or a syndicate of banks) on a €188 million multi-currency term loan facility to Solstad Rederi and, with Singapre based senior associate Thomas Dale, Nordea Bank Finland Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken and Fokus Bank on a $233 million syndicated senior secured refinancing of Singco Gas and Somargas II's fleet of ten gas carriers.

Bergen partner Solheim and Dale assisted Nordea Bank Norge, Danmarks Skibskredit, Swedbank and Eksportfinans on a €127 million syndicated senior secured refinancing of four vessels and financing of one new building for DOF Rederi.