Slaughter and May, Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance (CC) have all picked up advisory roles in the UK government’s £11.8bn sale of buy-to-let mortgages from failed lender Bradford & Bingley.
Slaughters is advising Treasury entity UK Asset Resolution (UKAR), with a team led by finance partner Guy O’Keefe (pictured) and corporate partner Craig Cleaver.
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton was also special US counsel, advising UKAR alongside Slaughters, with a team led by international capital markets partner Pierre-Marie Boury in London.
A&O and CC are advising the buyers, Blackstone and Prudential, respectively. CC’s team is led by structured debt partner Maggie Zhao alongside M&A partner Hilary Evenett.
The government took control of the failed bank’s £50bn loan book back in 2008, while Bradford & Bingley’s £20bn savings unit and branches were bought by Santander bank.
Slaughters advised UKAR in 2008 when a large proportion of Bradford & Bingley’s portfolio was rescued, while Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Linklaters advised private equity company TPG on its acquisition during Bradford & Bingley’s collapse.
Slaughters and Linklaters also landed major roles in 2015 advising on the government’s record-breaking £13bn sale of former Northern Rock mortgages during the financial crisis.
Separately, Slaughters also acted for UKAR when the government sold a £13bn asset portfolio to Cerberus Capital Management in 2015.
georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk