Allison Liff

About Allison Liff

Allison Liff is Co-Head of Global Leveraged Finance and a partner in our private capital team based in New York.  Allison is a highly sought-after advisor to private equity and other private capital firms, portfolio companies, and corporate clients worldwide.  With deep expertise in complex domestic and cross-border debt financing transactions, she provides strategic counsel on acquisition financings, recapitalizations, asset-based lending, liability management transactions, restructurings and ongoing strategic advice.  Known for her commercial acumen and ability to navigate high-stakes negotiations with ease, Allison is a trusted partner to clients in today’s dynamic financing landscape.

Recognized as a leader in her field, Allison is ranked in Chambers Global and Chambers USA for Banking & Finance, where clients praise her as “smart, market-oriented and a great negotiator.” She is also recognized as a “Highly Regarded” lawyer for Banking in the US by IFLR1000 and is featured as an expert in Banking & Finance by Expert Guides’s “Women in Business Law.” Her excellence has been acknowledged with numerous industry accolades, including being shortlisted as “Banking & Finance Lawyer of the Year” by Euromoney Legal Media Group’s  Women in Business Law Americas Awards (2022), named a Banking “MVP” by Law360 (2019) and honored as one of The M&A Advisor’s  “40 Under 40” (2014) for her accomplishments and expertise in financing, M&A and restructuring.

Earlier in her career, Allison spent six years at Goldman Sachs, where she was a Managing Director and head of the Leveraged Finance Legal team.  In this role, she led legal support for the Americas Financing Group, spanning large-cap and middle-market leveraged finance and restructuring, as well as the bank debt portfolio group.  Her experience at the intersection of legal and financial strategy gives her a unique ability to guide clients through the most intricate and high-profile transactions.

A dynamic and solutions-oriented advisor, Allison combines technical excellence with a pragmatic approach, making her an invaluable resource for clients seeking sophisticated and commercially sound financing solutions.

Recent work

• Advent International on its $1.95 billion first lien multicurrency facilities to finance its $2.7 billion acquisition of Nielsen Global Connect.
• Advent International on the financing of its affiliate, AI Beauty’s, acquisition of cosmetics brands bareMinerals, BUXOM and Laura Mercier (collectively, n/k/a Orveon) from Shiseido.
• Advent International on its $225 million senior secured credit facilities to finance its acquisition of First Watch Restaurants.
• Advent International on its $600 million first and second lien facilities to finance its acquisition of Culligan International Company.
• Advent International on its senior secured facilities primarily to finance its acquisition of QW Holding (Quala) from Roark Capital Group, and Quala in its acquisition of PSC.
• Advent International on its €1.5 billion senior term and revolving multicurrency facilities to finance the take-private acquisition of Nuplex Industries by Allnex.
• Advent International on its first and second lien multicurrency credit facilities to finance its acquisition of Distribution International.
• Al Candelaria S.L.U. (an Advent International portfolio company), on the financing of its acquisition of a 22 percent stake in Ocensa, Colombia’s largest oil pipeline.
• American Securities in various transactions, including its acquisition and sale of Ulterra Drilling Technologies, L.P. and its financing and ultimate sale of Tekni-Plex, Inc.
• Apollo Infrastructure and on the financing of its acquisition of Parallel Infrastructure from Lendlease and subsequent sale to Harmony Towers (a Palistar Capital portfolio company).
• Aquiline Capital on the financing for its acquisition Ontellus, a leader in outsourced records retrieval.
• Ardian on its revolving and first and second lien term facilities to finance its acquisition of a majority stake in Florida Food Products and to refinance existing FFP indebtedness and incremental debt raises.
• Assembly, a portfolio company of Advent International and Providence Strategic Growth, to finance its acquisition of PacVue.
• ATI Physical Therapy (an Advent International portfolio company) on a $550 million credit facility comprised of a $500 million senior secured term loan and $50 million super-priority senior secured revolver to refinance its existing long-term debt.
• Berkeley Lights on the financing of its acquisition of IsoPlexis.
• Blackstone’s portfolio company Schenck Process Group on the sale of its food and performance materials business to Hillenbrand.
• Centerbridge Partners on its $625 million senior secured credit facilities to finance its substantial minority investment in syncreon.
• Centerbridge Partners on its facilities, comprised of a $300 million term loan and an $80 million asset-based credit facility, to finance portfolio company Capmark Financial’s acquisition of Bluestem.
• Coupa on its pending $8 billion sale to Thoma Bravo.
• Culligan International Company (an Advent International portfolio company) on multiple incremental debt raises to finance various acquisitions, including ZIP Industries, TWH Filtration Industries, including its principal subsidiary Paragon Water Systems, Aqua Venture, Harvey Water Softeners and Aqua Vital.
• CVC Capital Partners on its $670 million credit facilities to finance its global carve-out acquisition of Therakos from Mallinckrodt.
• CVC Capital Partners on its $1.3 billion senior secured revolving facilities to finance its acquisition of Radwell International.
• CVC Capital Partners in connection with the financing for its acquisition of Icario.
• Definitive Healthcare (an Advent International portfolio company) on its $350 million senior secured facilities to refinance existing indebtedness immediately following its IPO.
• Ditech on the restructuring of its approximately $1.4 billion term loan, as part of a prepackaged plan of reorganization under chapter 11 that eliminated approximately $800 million of corporate debt, and it’s $1.9 billion debtor-in-possession facilities.
• First Watch Restaurants (a publicly traded company backed by Advent International) on its $175 million senior secured facilities to refinance existing indebtedness following its IPO.
• GI Partners on its senior secured facilities to finance its acquisition of Vast Broadband.
• Goldman Sachs on its $560 million first and second lien facilities to finance its acquisition of Restaurant Technologies.
• Goldman Sachs on its $260 million senior secured facilities to finance, in part, its acquisition, together with Eurazeo, of Trader Interactive; and subsequently on Trader Interactive’s $445 million senior secured facilities, to, primarily, refinance existing indebtedness.
• Goldman Sachs on its financing for its investment in AvaSure.
• Goldman Sachs as sponsor of GS Acquisition Holdings Corp II (GSAH), a SPAC, in $830m first lien term and $50m senior secured revolving facilities for Mirion Technologies, Inc. to finance Mirion’s $2.6bn business combination with GSAH.
• GTM (an Advent portfolio company) on the financing related to its acquisition of quantiQ, a Brazilian chemical distributer.
• Keysight on its all-cash recommended offer to acquire Spirent Communications PLC and the financing to support the acquisition, comprised of a bridge loan facility.
• KKCG, a private capital firm, on the financing for its proposed bid to acquire an industrials company in the US.
• Li-Cycle Holdings on its announced issuance of a $75 million senior secured convertible note to Glencore Canada Corporation.
• PhenomeX on its $108 million sale to Bruker Corporation.
• PF. Chang’s (at the time, a Centerbridge portfolio company) on its $380 million senior secured facilities.
• Searchlight Capital on its first and second lien credit facilities to finance its acquisition of Integrated Power Services.
• Serta Simmons Bedding (an Advent International portfolio company) on its $1.05 billion super-priority senior secured upsized term facility, as part of a recapitalization that eliminated debt and provided liquidity.
• Serta Simmons Bedding (an Advent International portfolio company) on its $2.4 billion first and second lien term facilities and an amendment and restatement of their existing $225 million asset-based revolving facility.
• Shift4 Payments (a Searchlight Capital portfolio company) on its $600 million first and second lien facilities to refinance existing indebtedness and to finance an acquisition.
• Sovos Brands (an Advent International portfolio company) on its $705 million first lien credit facilities and $200m second lien credit facility to refinance existing indebtedness and make a pre-IPO dividend to shareholders.
• Sovos Brands (an Advent International portfolio company) on its $185 million senior secured credit facilities to finance its acquisition of Rao’s Specialty Foods.
• Sovos Brands (an Advent International portfolio company) on its $75 million senior secured credit facilities to finance its acquisition of Michael Angelo’s Gourmet Foods.
• Sovos Brands (an Advent International portfolio company) on its $325 million senior secured multicurrency facilities to finance its merger with Noosa Yoghurt (an Advent International portfolio company).
• Sovos Brands (an Advent International portfolio company) on its first and second lien facilities to, primarily, refinance existing indebtedness.
• syncreon Group B.V. on its $126 million secured term facility to finance operations during a scheme process in the UK and meet its immediate liquidity needs; senior secured term loan credit facility consisting of a $125.5 million first out tranche and a $225 million second out tranche; and $135 million multicurrency senior secured ABL facility, each to finance operations upon its completion of the scheme process.
• syncreon Group B.V. on an amended and extended $100 million senior secured revolving facility to, among other things, create capacity for a third-party receivables financing facility; and on a $100 million ABL senior secured revolving receivables financing facility.
• Thrasio (a company in which Advent International and Silver Lake have substantial minority investments) on its recapitalization and on several incremental debt raises.
• TPG on its senior secured term and revolving facilities to finance its acquisition of Morrow Sodali.
• TPG on its senior secured facilities to finance its acquisition of Keter Environmental Services.
• TPG on its $465 million senior secured term and revolving facilities and commitments for Accel Entertainment, in connection with its acquisition by SPAC TPG Pace Holdings, and to refinance existing indebtedness.
• Verlinvest in connection in connection with the entry by one of its portfolio companies into a $75 million senior secured term loan and a $12.5 million senior secured delayed draw term loan facility.

* This deal list includes some matters that Allison completed prior to joining Freshfields.