Paul is a partner in our financial services team specialising in banking and finance law.  He has a broad range of experience in domestic and cross-border financings with an emphasis on syndicated lending, leveraged and acquisition finance, debt restructuring and workouts, and development and construction finance.

Prior to joining Buddle Findlay in 2003, Paul spent 3 years in the banking and leveraged finance teams at Allen & Overy in London.

He provides general banking and finance advice for both lenders and borrowers as well as corporate and commercial advice for a number of major local and off-shore companies.

Paul also acts for banks providing funding to entities within the agriculture sector (dairy, sheep and beef, kiwifruit and viticulture).

Recent work includes:

  • Advising Intermediate Capital Group on their mezzanine financing of the acquisition of Tegel by a bidder consortium led by Affinity Equity Partners
  • Advising REDgroup on the refinance of REDgroup's senior debt and its redemption of its NZX listed notes on maturity
  • Advising the lender to Kidicorp in respect of its acquisition of ABC Learning Centres
  • Advising the syndicate lenders on the restructure of Blue Star Print Group's funding arrangements
  • Advising Bank of New Zealand and Clydesdale Bank in relation to their financing of the acquisition of European Insurance Services by Contractors Bonding
  • Advising Suntory on its NZ$1.4b purchase of Frucor
  • Advising Unitas Capital and Ontario Teachers Pension Fund on the funding of their NZ$2.24b acquisition of Yellow Pages
  • Advising ASB Bank in relation to their financing of Maui Capital's acquisition of a significant shareholding in Euro Corporation
  • Advising Unitas Capital on the funding of its joint acquisition of Independent Liquor with PEP
  • Acting as New Zealand counsel for the lenders in the Australasian acquisition of MYOB
  • Advising the banking syndicate of ANZ National Bank, Bank of New Zealand and Commonwealth Bank of Australia on the funding and development of Telecom House (known as "Willis Central")
  • Acting for the joint mandated lead arrangers (CIBC/Merrill Lynch International) in the £985,000,000 leveraged acquisition of the Meridien, Cumberland and Principal hotel groups by Nomura (and subsequent work-out and restructuring)
  • Acting for various banks on the provision of bilateral and syndicated lending to entities within the agriculture sector (dairy, sheep and beef, kiwifruit, viticulture)
  • Acting for a registered bank on the provision of alternative funding options to agriculture sector borrowers, including by way of ordinary equity subscription, hybrid-equity and subordinated financing
  • Advising Pacific Equity Partners on its sale of Guardian Healthcare Group to DCA Group
  • Advising the lenders to the AFFCO group of Companies
  • Advising the lenders to the Open Country Dairy group of companies
  • Acting for the lender to Integral Technology Group in its acquisition of Axon Computer Services
  • Acting for the mandated lead arranger (Merrill Lynch) in the successful £1.46b bid for the Anglo-Dutch Haslemere property group (the largest public to private of a listed property company at the time)
  • Acting for the mandated lead arrangers (Merrill Lynch and Bank of Scotland) on the £1b Irish public to private management buy-out of Green Property Plc (a property investment company
  • Acting for the lender to a JV partner involved in the construction and operation of a 9 megawatt hydro electricity generation plant
  • Acting for the arranger (The Bank of Nova Scotia) on the refinancing of a £135,000,000 multi-currency revolving credit and L/C facility provided to UK Coal plc and its subsidiaries
  • LLB (Hons), BCom University of Auckland