Am Law Quotes Ranesh Ramanathan on Emergence of Private Credit Market
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For its article “Rise of Private Credit Has Been a Boon to Big Law,” The American Lawyer quoted Akin special situations & private credit practice co-head Ranesh Ramanathan.
The article discusses the emergence of private credit as an alternative to institutional lending, and how the private credit deal market’s growth will help some law firms that build out their private credit capabilities.
Akin is noted as having added seven lateral partners to its special situations & private credit practice (learn more here). Ranesh, who joined the firm in October 2022, said about the growth of private credit work among law firms, “The phrase I like is private credit coming out of the shadows. It used to be shadow banking. Now it is in the mainstream.”
He also noted that the initial offerings for private credit were considered by both banks and law firms as being beneath them: “[Private credit lenders] started as mezzanine lenders, dipping lower than the banks would go. It was more risky, and really only private equity firms were willing to take the risk. Then the market went down and the space where smaller or nascent companies got money was empty. But the real driver was the interest rates.”
