A transaction on which global law firm White & Case advised—ION Trading's US$2.1 billion-equivalent acquisition loan—has been named North America Leveraged Loan of the year by the IFR Awards, conferred by International Financing Review (IFR). The award will be formally presented at a ceremony on January 29 in London.
In the winning transaction, White & Case represented UBS AG, Stamford Branch as arranger on an incremental term loan facility for ION Trading Technologies S.a r.l. and ION Trading Finance Limited's credit agreement. White & Case also represented UBS for cash confirmation. The transaction included US$1.32 billion of initial dollar term loans and €670 million of initial euro loans, the proceeds of which were used, in part, to acquire Fidessa Group plc, a publicly traded UK company. The deal was emblematic of the White & Case Banking practice's ability to handle complex, multijurisdictional transactions.
According to IFR, within one week of signing, the deal had secured US$270 million of commitments. The entire deal was committed within 23 days.
Winners of IFR Awards are selected by the magazine's senior editorial team from among submissions made by leading financial institutions.
