About Laila
Laila De Melo is a special counsel specialising in in banking and finance law.
She has extensive experience representing banks, non-bank lenders, property developers, investment funds, corporations and private equity firms.
She has a particular focus on complex financial transactions including restructuring, leveraged finance, syndicated lending, property finance and project finance matters.
Laila graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts with honours and a Bachelor of Laws with honours and was admitted to practice in 2003.
Practice focus
Laila’s practice focuses on the following areas:
- restructurings, acting for major corporates and insolvency officials
- leveraged finance, including acting for sponsors and financing banks in connection with leveraged buyouts, recapitalisations and debt restructurings
- syndicated lending, including documenting large corporate working capital and acquisition facilities, negotiating mezzanine finance arrangements and structuring property development financings
- property finance, including acting for borrowers in connection with acquisition, development and investment facilities and negotiating and documenting joint venture arrangements, and
- project finance, including acting for sponsors in connection with structuring the relevant financing arrangements, negotiating mezzanine finance arrangements and acting for senior financing banks.
Experience
Laila has acted for a range of major Australian and international corporations and private clients, including on behalf of:
Corporate finance
- ME Bank: in relation to its $1.325 billion sale to the Bank of Queensland, and
- Caspian Capital LP: in relation to the syndicated loan facility to Hornblower, an American travel and transport group, to finance the acquisition of Australian-based tourism business, Journey Beyond.
Structuring & financing in property sector
- AsheMorgan: in relation to:
- the purchase of an office tower and the MetCentre at 60 Margaret Street, Sydney
- its equity and debt financing arrangements for its original A$160 million acquisition and subsequent and ongoing development of the ‘Harbour Town’ precinct
- MaxCap: in relation to a series of structured property finance transactions
- Merricks Capital: in relation to a $465 million syndicated facility to finance acquisition of landmark Sydney CBD site, and
- Barana Group and Toga Group: in relation to a structured transaction for the development of The Vibe Hotel in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney.
Restructuring & insolvency
- Apollo Management and Oaktree Capital: in relation to the A$3.8 billion Nine Entertainment restructuring, including new A$800 million debt facilities, and
- Syncora and FGIC, the credit wrappers of more than A$26 billion of debt owed by Reliance Rail, in connection with the restructure and refinance of such debt.
