John R. Sobolewski
John represents sponsors and corporate borrowers in their most complex financing and liability management transactions. His multidisciplinary practice spans finance and restructuring, including leveraged M&A and LBOs, special situations and liability management, debt capital markets offerings, syndicated and direct loans, NAV loans and capital call facilities, management company financings, and in-court and out-of-court workouts.
John has been recognized by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Dealmakers in America, and as one of the 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers. John has also been awarded the “Leading Lawyers–Highly Regarded” ranking by IFLR, and has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers and a “Rising Star” by Expert Guides.
Legal 500 calls John “a key contact for liability management transactions.” In 2024, John was named “Legal Advisor of the Year” by the M&A Advisor’s 18th Annual Turnaround Awards for his liability management work.
John writes frequently on financing and liability management matters, and his work has been published in CFO magazine, Financier Worldwide magazine, the International Comparative Legal Guide, and Harvard Law School’s Forum on Corporate Governance.
EXPERIENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Financing – Funds and Private Equity
- John has represented top tier asset managers in numerous financing matters, including Carlyle, Searchlight Capital, Siris Capital, Tiger Global and Warburg Pincus.
Liability Management
- Lumen Technologies in over $15 billion of credit facility and notes extension and amendment transactions and a related $2.325 billion of new money notes issuances and new revolving commitments
- Travelport in its $3.6 billion of superpriority financing and exchange transactions, and its subsequent $2.05 billion junior priority exchange transaction
- Mitel Networks in its $1.35 billion of exchange, amendment and financing transactions
- Angelo Gordon in various matters, including connection with its debt investment in a subsidiary of Envision Healthcare
- Mallinckrodt in various exchange offers and other financing and restructuring matters
- Intelsat in over $6.0 billion of issuances of high-yield, holdco and convertible notes, as well as related bond tenders and purchases
Financing – Corporate
- T-Mobile in its acquisition of Sprint and its related $38.0 billion of financing commitments and $39.0 billion of consent solicitations, as well as its related bridge loan, credit agreement and senior notes issuances
- Gap in various matters, including its $1.8675 billion ABL credit agreement and $2.25 billion senior secured notes issuances, and its subsequent $1.5 billion unsecured notes issuances and related tender offers
- Lions Gate in various matters, including its $4.5 billion of bank and bond transactions in connection with its acquisition of Starz, and its various subsequent repricing and refinancing transactions, notes issuances and exchanges
- Cengage in various matters, including its loan and preferred stock issuances
- Office Properties Income Trust in various matters, including its $425MM revolver refinancing
- XPO Logistics in various matters, including in connection with the financing of its €3.24 billion acquisition of Norbert Dentressangle S.A. and $3.0 billion acquisition of Con-Way, and its subsequent refinancings, repricings and new debt incurrences
- PPG Industries in its $2.0 billion term loan to finance its acquisition of Tikkurila
Select Publications
- Financing Year in Review: Evolving Markets and New Trends,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, February 8, 2024.
- Private Equity in 2023—A Year (Not) to Remember,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, January 13, 2024.
- Private Equity—2023 Outlook,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, March 22, 2023.
- Financing Year in Review: The Tide Turns,
in The Harvard Law School Corporate Governance Forum, January 24, 2023.
- Cross-Border M&A - 2023 Checklist for Successful Acquisitions in the United States,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, January 7, 2023.
- Developing Trends in Private Equity Financing,
in Financier Worldwide, September 2022.
- Corporate Bankruptcy and Restructuring: 2021-2022,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, February 15, 2022.
- Private Equity – 2021 Year in Review and 2022 Outlook,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, February 9, 2022.
- Financing Year in Review: A Robust Recovery,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, January 13, 2022.
- Recent Trends in U.S. Corporate Bankruptcy and Restructuring,
in The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Restructuring & Insolvency, 2021.
- Private Equity – Year in Review and 2021 Outlook,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, February 6, 2021.
- Financing Year in Review: From Crisis to Comeback,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, January 19, 2021.
- Acquisition Financing Year in Review: The Decade of Debt,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, January 17, 2020.
- Debt Default Activism: After Windstream, the Winds of Change,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, June 18, 2019.
- Corporate Bankruptcy and Restructuring: 2018-2019,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, February 17, 2019.
- Acquisition Financing Year in Review - From Break-Neck to Brakes-On,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, January 14, 2019.
- Default Activism in the Debt Markets,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, December 4, 2018.
- The Rise of the Net-Short Debt Activist,
in CFO, August 6, 2018.
