Global law firm Reed Smith has announced the appointment of real estate finance partner Francisca Sepúlveda to its financial industry group in London. Francisca joins Reed Smith from the London office of Allen & Overy, where she was senior associate in the global loans and real estate finance group.
Francisca has over nine years’ experience, spanning a range of transactions in the real estate finance space on behalf of funds and financial institutions, including loan portfolio transactions, investment and development financing and restructurings. Current clients include a mixture of banks, investment managers, debt funds, private equity funds and borrowers.
She began her legal career as a trainee at Taylor Wessing where she qualified in 2005, joining Allen & Overy in 2008. Before becoming a lawyer, Francisca read physics at the University of Bristol and civil engineering at Imperial College, and worked as a software engineer for Logica, WestLB and Omnicom.
Francisca’s arrival follows that of leveraged finance partner Ben Davis (from Travers Smith), real estate finance partner Matthew Heaton (from Pinsent Masons) and leveraged finance counsel Monica Dupont-Barton (from Freshfields). Ben, Matthew and Monica joined the firm in March, June and July respectively.
Nola Beirne, vice chair of Reed Smith's financial industry group (EME), commented:
“The recent resurgence of real estate as an attractive asset class for investment has been keeping the Reed Smith team very busy, with multiple opportunities for us arising from loan origination, loan servicing, alternative lenders entering the market, and strong demand for real estate debt. Our clients are increasingly looking for a ‘one stop shop’ for advice on loan origination, as well as capital markets financing and refinancings and Francisca’s appointment will bolster our expertise in this area.”
Francisca commented:
“I have been very impressed by Reed Smith’s commitment to its real estate finance offering and look forward to joining at an exciting time for the firm and its clients.”
ENDS
Note to Editors:
About Reed Smith’s Financial Industry Group
Reed Smith’s global financial industry group has more than 250 lawyers based in 25 offices advising on all aspects of finance transactions, including leveraged buyouts, structured finance transactions, asset-based lending transactions, real estate transactions, structured trade and commodity transactions, derivatives as well as workouts, restructurings, debtor-in-possession financings and exit financings. The team also provides regulatory advice and guidance to financial institution and alternative lender clients across the globe. The fully integrated practice is uniquely positioned to advise on cross-border and European deals requiring U.S., English and/or local law capabilities.
About Reed Smith
Reed Smith is a global law firm with 25 offices and more than 1,800 lawyers in offices across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States.
For further information, please visit www.reedsmith.com or contact Jeyda Star (senior PR & communications manager EME) on +44 (0)20 3116 2571.