Presley Warner is head of the Firm’s European Credit and Leveraged Finance practice, and a member of the Firm’s Finance & Restructuring Group. Mr. Warner advises financial institution, private equity and corporate clients on a broad range of cross-border financing transactions across the ratings spectrum.
Private equity transactions include advising sponsors and lenders on leveraged private and public-to-private transactions in the U.K. and across Europe through first lien, mezzanine, PIK and hybrid instruments, leveraged recapitalizations, super senior revolving credit facilities, high yield bridge financings, bid financings, Opco/Propco structured financings, U.S. term loan B and distressed financings, and related intercreditor arrangements.
Corporate transactions include advising corporates and lenders on event-driven investment grade financings and build-out transactions.
Restructuring transactions include advising bondholders, financial institutions, and corporate and private equity-owned debtors on restructurings in the U.K., Europe and the Middle East.
Mr. Warner’s clients have included Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Apax, Hellman & Friedman, Providence Equity Partners, Citibank, HSBC and Société Générale, and portfolio companies of private equity sponsors including Endemol and Prysmian. Mr. Warner’s corporate clients have included Fiat S.p.A., ZF Friedrichshafen, the London Stock Exchange, Kabel Deutschland, Metrovacesa, Retevisión Móvil and Zim Integrated Shipping Services.
Mr. Warner is a graduate of the University of Toronto Law School, where he served as co-editor-in-chief of the Law Review. He joined the Torys law firm in Toronto in 1993 as an associate and concentrated in antitrust and securities offerings. Mr. Warner has practiced in London since 1995 and is qualified to practice in England, Canada and the United States. Mr. Warner was a member of the original seven person documentation committee who drafted the original Loan Market Association (LMA) form of syndicated loan agreement in 1999. Mr. Warner joined Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in May 2011.
Publications
- Restructuring Law & Practice, 3rd ed. (with Chris Beatty and Chris Howard) (London: LexisNexis, 2022)
- “Defaults and Restructurings: What Happens When it all Goes Wrong,” in A Practitioner’s Guide to Syndicated Lending, ed. Andrew Shutter (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2010)
- “Negative Pledges,” PLC Magazine (September 1999)
Professional Activities
- Panel member, City of London Law Society Financial Law Committee
- Member, Insolvency Lawyers Association
- Member, City of London Law Society Committee on AI
- Member, American Statistical Association
- Affiliate Member, American Association for Cancer Research
- Associate Member, The American Association of Immunologists
- 2024 cohort: American Course on Drug Discovery and Regulatory Sciences (University of California, San Francisco)
- Member, American Society of Human Genetics
- Associate Member, Institution of Engineering and Technology