Scott Welkis has substantial experience in a variety of financing transactions. His clients are banks and other financial institutions, private equity and hedge funds, financial guarantors, and domestic and international public and private companies. His representations include secured and unsecured senior and subordinated financings for acquisition, bridge, project and working capital purposes. He also has significant experience representing debtors and creditors, including bondholders’ committees, in connection with restructurings, workouts and debtor-in-possession (DIP) and exit financings. Mr. Welkis also provides advice with respect to secured interest rate and commodities hedge products and related intercreditor issues.
In addition, Mr. Welkis’s practice includes complex structured finance representations, including securitizations, repurchase transactions, synthetic leases, leveraged leases and intricate accounting and tax-driven products. He has worked on restructuring various structured finance transactions, including exchange offers for debt of special purpose entities.
The following are selected representative transactions for Mr. Welkis:
Represented a leading international financial institution, as arranger, administrative agent and syndication agent, in connection with a $138 million project financing for the development of bio-diesel production facilities;
Represented a major department store retailer and real estate private equity acquirer in connection with an asset based loan (ABL) facility for the acquisition and refinancing of retailer’s assets;
Represented a prominent energy hedge fund and affiliated borrowers in connection with approximately $2 billion of project financing facilities consisting of a first lien revolving and term loan facility, a second lien term loan facility and a holding company term loan with warrants to support the acquisition and operation of energy generating assets;
Represented a national furniture retailer in connection with a workout of its senior and subordinated debt, including a debt-to-equity conversion of subordinated debt, a DIP financing facility and an asset sale pursuant to bankruptcy court administration;
Represented the ad hoc committee of unsecured bondholders of an automotive parts manufacturer during a takeover of the bond issuer by a strategic acquirer which, among other things, resulted in a debt restructuring whereby the indebtedness owed to the bondholders was secured by a third lien collateral structure;
Represented a leading international financial institution as commodities hedge counterparty to ethanol production facilities secured by a third lien collateral structure;
Represented an international aluminum producer and product fabricator in connection with a DIP financing facility, a replacement DIP financing facility and first and second lien exit financing facilities;
Represented a private equity fund in connection with interim credit support structure and subordinated term loans to a portfolio company;
Represented a leading international financial institution in connection with a $100 million DIP financing facility to a leading clothing manufacturer;
Represented a prominent monoline insurance provider in connection with a $234 million leveraged lease financing for a railcar manufacturer and operator in the United States, Canada and Mexico;
Represented a major defense and aerospace company in connection with a $700 million credit facility consisting of $300 million of revolving loans, including a letter of credit facility and swingline loans, and $400 million of term loans to refinance an existing credit facility and an existing additional letter of credit facility;
Represented an energy trading company in connection with a first lien right-way risk commodities hedging program; and
Represented a prominent monoline insurance provider in connection with a $225 million whole asset ABS facility for a gas compressor leasing company.
Mr. Welkis also has significant experience in corporate and securities transactions, including capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments and joint ventures. He has worked on leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, privatizations, and private placements of debt securities, including second lien and convertible bonds, and exchange offers of such debt securities.
Mr. Welkis joined Stroock in 2006 from Jones Day’s New York office, where he practiced in its lending and structured finance areas. Prior to joining Jones Day in 2001, he was an associate in the New York office of Dechert.
Admitted to Practice
New York; New Jersey
Education
J.D., Fordham University School of Law, 1996
B.A., Trinity College, 1993 |