The Abbey habit for law firm

Feb 20 2008 by Iain Laing, The Journal

LAW firm Dickinson Dees has advised Abbey on its participation in three debt facilities to fund major education projects in England and Scotland.

The Newcastle firm helped Abbey when it borrowed £25m from a debt facility provided by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) for a £200m PPP project to refurbish schools across Edinburgh.

It has also taken a £25m participation in a debt facility provided by DEPFA Bank plc (DEPFA) for a similar scheme for facilities to be provided under the Forfar and Carnoustie PPP Project. Separately Dickinson Dees have also advised on a £13.5m debt facility provided to Oxford Brookes University.

The first two deals represent the Abbey’s first entry into the debt facility market for PFI and PPP projects across the UK and follows the recent creation of a public sector and charities team headed by Stephen Brooks, formerly of Allied Irish Bank.

The four-strong Dickinson Dees team, led by partner Russell Jarvis, an expert in project finance, provided advice on the bank’s participation, provided due diligence checks on all project documentation and advised on the facilities documentation needed to complete the schemes.