Davis Polk & Wardwell and Shearman & Sterling have been handed the lead mandates on the restructuring of Ford Motor Company’s debt.
Davis Polk partners Donald Bernstein, Michael Kaplan and Larry Wieman are leading for Ford in a deal that will see the company’s financing group Ford Credit make a $1.3bn cash offer for unsecured Ford bonds and a $500m offer for secured loan debt.
Shearman & Sterling capital markets partner Lisa Jacobs and partners Michael Benjamin and Peter Blessing are acting for deal managers Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
Jacobs said: “We’ve been a longstanding adviser for Ford in this capacity. If there’s investment banking involvement on a transaction the firm advises on the deal.”
Ford’s restructuring comes at a time of turbulence for the US car manufacturing industry. The industry has been blighted by the global credit crisis, with Detroit manufacturers seeking financial assistance from the US Government.
Jacobs said: “The deal was complex because it involved three different offers at the same time. It’ll clearly be something that will have a positive impact on Ford and greatly improve its balance sheet.”
Davis Polk partners were unavailable for comment.
