Amy Kennedy
Partner
Areas of Focus
- Corporate & Finance
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Investment Management
- Energy & Infrastructure
- Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG)
- Technology
- Special Situations
- Private Credit
- Leveraged Finance
- Projects & Energy Transition
- Preferred Equity & Hybrid Capital
- Private Equity
- Energy & Infrastructure Private Equity
- Private Capital
- Focuses on a wide variety of financing transactions, representing private equity sponsors, hedge funds, financial investors, special situation investors, portfolio companies and other corporate borrowers.
- Drives direct lending and special situation transactions, as well as leading the finance aspects of complex restructuring transactions.
- Experience structuring a range of fund financings, as well as investment grade and corporate lending.
- Co-leader of the firm’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) group.
Amy structures a wide variety of financing transactions across the credit spectrum, focusing on special situations transactions.
Amy also advises in the direct lending and private credit space, and structures leveraged financing arrangements for complex leveraged buyouts. She has also worked on a range of complex international and cross-border banking and restructuring transactions. Amy is also experienced in more general lending, including investment grade and corporate transactions. In addition, Amy leads fund financing transactions, including net asset value (NAV), general partner (GP) and subscription lines.
Her clients include private equity sponsors, special situations investors, banks and other financial institutions (including hedge funds, non-bank alternative capital providers and direct lenders) and corporates (including client portfolio companies).
Amy has experience with complex senior/mezzanine/second-lien structures, payment-in-kind (PIK) lending, high yield, unitranche/private placement and U.S. financings. Amy has also represented both banks and corporations in Islamic/Shari’ah based lending, including co-conventional structures.
Amy has worked across a number of sectors including health, oil and gas, telecommunications, real estate and retail.
Amy is co-leader of our environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) group and has experience in cutting-edge green and sustainability-linked financial products in the public and private debt markets.
Prior to joining Akin, Amy was a partner in the global finance and private equity practice groups in a leading global law firm. She has practiced in London, New York and Dubai.
In 2019, Amy was identified by The Lawyer as one of their “Hot 100” and named a “Rising Star in Finance” at the annual Euromoney Legal Media Group Europe Women in Business Law Awards. She is also included in Legal 500 UK 2020 for Real Estate—commercial property investment and Real Estate—property finance. She is also ranked as Highly Regarded in IFLR1000 2020 for Banking. Amy is listed by the Euromoney Legal Media Group’s inaugural Rising Stars Awards for the practice area category banking and finance and also as a Rising Star in the country category for the United Kingdom.
- Advising Bain Capital Special Situations on its funding of a merger between The Markerstudy Group and Atlanta Group, The Ardonagh Group’s personal lines broking business, to create a major new player in the U.K. insurance market.
- Advising a private equity investment firm on the restructuring of its portfolio company, a South African headquartered health and wellness business.
- Advising a private equity investment firm on its offer to buy-back GPB890m of lender debt through a reverse Dutch auction – the first of its kind in the European debt market.
- Advising the ad hoc group of lenders on the refinancing of Hurtigruten AS, a Norwegian cruise line and coastal ferry business.
- Advising HPS Investment Partners in the refinancing of Havila Kystruten, a Norwegian shipping company.
- In relation to the $1.9 billion financial restructuring of Swissport, advised a PIK lender group on a €500 million new long-term debt facility and a €300 million super senior interim financing.
EducationL.P.C., Inns of Court School of Law, 2006
M.A., University of Oxford, 2005
L.P.C., Inns of Court School of Law, 2006
M.A., University of Oxford, 2005
Bar AdmissionsSolicitor, England and Wales
Solicitor, England and Wales
- The Legal 500 UK, Bank Lending: Investment Grade Debt and Syndicated Loans; Projects, Energy and Natural Resources: Power, 2022.
- Euromoney, Expert Guides, Rising Stars 2020 and 2021; United Kingdom – Banking and Finance, 2020 and 2021.
- IFLR1000, Highly Regarded for Banking, 2020.
- The Lawyer, Hot 100, 2019.
- Euromoney, Europe Women in Business Law Awards, Rising Star in Finance.
- Speaker, “Emergence of ESG Transparency – U.S. and EU Developments” Webinar, April 15, 2021.
- Moderator, “Applying Reporting Standards and Tools: UNPRI, TCFD, SASB?” Webinar, MFA ESG 2021, April 6, 2021.
- “An Introduction to the Issues and Challenges for Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) Investing,” ACIC CLE Webinar, January 2021.
- “ESG Regulation: Are you Ready to Disclose?,” ELFA and Akin Webinar, London, November 2020.
- “Financing Trends and Regulatory Changes,” ELFA and Akin Webinar, London, November 2020.
- “Exploring European Bonds, Loans and Covenants,” Podcast, London, May 2020.