Songbird Estates - Proposed placing and compensatory open offer, preference share issue and new credit facility

List of all recent work 

Slaughter and May is advising Songbird Estates plc on an underwritten placing to raise approximately £430 million; an underwritten compensatory open offer to raise approximately £190 million; an issue of preference shares to raise approximately £275 million; and a new credit facility of £135 million; to raise total gross proceeds of £1.03 billion.

Slaughter and May is also advising Songbird Estates plc on its proposal to use the gross proceeds of its fundraising to purchase its £880 million Citi senior loan facilities and to purchase an 8.45 per cent. stake in Canary Wharf Group from Commerzbank AG for £112.5 million (excluding expenses).

Songbird Estates announced these fundraising initiatives on 24 September 2009.

Weil Gotshal & Manges (London office) also advised Songbird Estates on certain English and US matters.

Corporate: Roland Turnill (partner), Gavin Brown (partner), Rebecca Cousin (partner), Adam Eastell (associate), Alana Lam (associate), Chris Bulger (associate), Charlotte Saunders (associate), Tom MacAulay (associate); Financing: Philip Snell (partner), Laurence Rickard (associate), Kyla French (associate), Emily Coates (associate); Tax: Richard Carson (partner), John Meehan (associate), Tom Jarvis (associate)

Weil Gotshal & Manges (London): Peter King (partner), Ian Hamilton (partner), Lauren Blair (associate)