Dealmaker

Clifford Chance securitisation partner Andrew Forryan is leading a 25-lawyer team on the $2bn Eurobond offering by Formula One - one of the largest securitisations this year. The team is advising investment bank Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, the sole lead manager for the issue.

The deal straddles eight jurisdictions, involving Clifford Chance lawyers in London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Madrid, Paris, Rome and Tokyo. Credit rating agencies Standard & Poors and Duff & Phelps gave the bonds, issued by Dutch special purpose vehicle company Formula One Finance, a single "A" rating.

"Formula One generates $350m a year - it is a massive business," said Forryan. "The deal demonstrates the strength of media contracts in financing." The bonds are secured on these cash flows, which are generated by promoter and TV broadcast contracts. The offering is widely seen as the first step to a flotation of the Formula One group in two to three years' time.

Forryan - one of six securitisation partners at Clifford Chance - returned to the firm in June last year after a two-year stint as an associate at the London office of US firm Sidley & Austin.

Stephen Mullens of Chancery Lane-based media law firm Marriott Harrison advised the Formula One Group.