Mayer Brown has added Scott Ashton as a partner and Brian Bates as senior counsel in London, strengthening the global law firm’s capital markets practice with two lawyers who have advised on a significant share of recent cross-border U.S. private placement debt issuance.
Ashton and Bates focus on cross-border securities offerings, representing issuers and placement agents across private placements and other debt and equity capital markets transactions.
Their practice has a particular concentration in advising non-U.S. companies and other entities raising capital through private placements with major U.S. and international financial institutions and pension funds.
Mayer Brown said Ashton and Bates have represented issuers in transactions accounting for approximately 30% of total cross-border U.S. private placement debt issuance in recent years.
That activity places the pair among the more active practitioners in a specialized financing market that has become increasingly important to companies and infrastructure sponsors seeking alternatives to conventional bank lending and public bond markets.
Cross-border private placements can provide borrowers with access to large institutional investors while offering greater flexibility around transaction structure, maturity and execution than some public-market financings.
The market is particularly relevant to infrastructure and energy projects, where borrowers frequently require large amounts of long-duration capital matched to the economics of underlying assets.
Ashton and Bates have also played significant roles in developing documentation used throughout the cross-border private placement industry.
Their work has included involvement with Loan Market Association private placement documentation as well as model documents published by the American College of Investment Counsel for the cross-border private placement market.
That experience gives Mayer Brown additional capabilities not only in executing individual financings but also in advising clients around evolving market standards and transaction structures.
The appointments expand a Mayer Brown capital markets practice that already operates across major global financial centers and advises issuers, investors and financial institutions on debt and equity transactions.
For the firm’s London practice, the additions provide additional depth at the intersection of European issuers and U.S. institutional capital.
That connection has become increasingly important as companies look beyond domestic financing sources to diversify their funding bases and access institutional investors in multiple jurisdictions.
Infrastructure and energy financing represents a particularly significant opportunity.
Private capital has taken a larger role in funding renewable energy, power, transportation, digital infrastructure and other capital-intensive assets as institutional investors seek long-duration investments and project sponsors look for alternatives to traditional lending markets.
Ashton and Bates’ backgrounds in cross-border private placements position Mayer Brown to capture more of that activity.
Their experience also complements Mayer Brown’s broader banking, finance, infrastructure and project finance capabilities, allowing the firm to advise clients across different portions of complex capital structures.
The hires continue Mayer Brown’s investment in senior transactional talent as the firm strengthens its international financing platform.
KEY QUOTES:
“The addition of Scott and Brian further bolsters our leading position in debt capital markets.”
“We’re pleased to welcome them to the firm and know their experience will benefit our clients.”
Jon Van Gorp, Partner at Mayer Brown
