Fearghal trained and practiced as a finance and restructuring lawyer in Norton Rose, London prior to returning to Belfast in 2005 to join Tughans. Fearghal has spent his entire career specialising in the finance and restructuring sector and clients acknowledge him as “very commercial” and able to bring “absolutely first rate legal skills” to complex funding negotiations and commercial lending transactions.
Although Fearghal’s practice area spans the full range of finance, restructuring and security matters required by clients, he is particularly well known for dealing with corporate/acquisition finance, leveraged finance, cash flow lending, property finance, receivables/asset based lending and securitisation structures. Fearghal has also advised extensively on complex restructuring transactions – usually arising out of distressed loan scenarios – both domestically in the Northern Irish market and also where those restructurings have involved cross border elements.
He regularly acts for both lenders and borrowers in and is cited as leading a “very knowledgeable and commercial team” and for being “attentive, capable, trustworthy and excellent to work with”.
“He’s attentive, efficient, knowledgeable and unerringly professional, and brings a creative, can-do approach to every transaction. He instils confidence in us.” Chambers UK 2021
“He’s very commercial, always on hand to get the deal done, and able to navigate complexities with ease.” Chambers UK 2021
- Advising the arrangers and joint lead managers on numerous receivables securitisations structures (including credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, sales receivables and auto-loans).
- Advising the lender on c. £4m of funding advanced to refinance existing indebtedness and provide working capital to the developer of one of Northern Ireland’s land mark hotel projects.
- Advising three financial institutions on their participation in the Bank of England’s Discount Window Facility.
- Advising the borrower group on a c. €75m facility being advanced by a syndicate of banks to refinance existing indebtedness, provide additional capex facilities and fund working capital
- Advising the lender in respect of c. £20m of funding advanced to a borrower to fund the construction and development of a series of wind turbine across Northern Ireland.
- Advising a number of financial institutions and lenders in respect of their standard origination documents for use in Northern Ireland (to include residential mortgage products, buy-to-let mortgage products and asset based lending)
- Advising a financial institution on the complex restructuring of distressed facilities of c. £27m involving complex negotiations with the borrower group and a simultaneous refinancing of third party indebtedness.
- Advising the borrower group on a c. €75m facility being advanced by a syndicate of banks to refinance existing indebtedness, provide additional capex facilities and fund working capital
- Advising the borrower group in respect of the restructure of its c. £300m facility to facilitate a reorganisation of the syndicate lenders and agreed work out strategy
- Advising the borrower in respect of the facilities and security structure for two purpose built student accommodation projects in Northern Ireland
- Advising a number of different lenders on a series of facilities being extended to borrowers in the payday lending industry
- Advising an invoice finance provider in respect of a reorganisation of borrower obligations following default by the borrower
- Advising a private equity purchaser on the Northern Ireland based loan and security assets being acquired from one of the UK’s leading financial institutions
