Clara Melly joined Ropes & Gray in 2017. Clara works within the firm’s finance group, with a particular focus on leveraged financings, high yield debt offerings, sustainable financings and ESG initiatives. 

After completing her LL.B. at Trinity College Dublin, Clara received a LL.M. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She has also obtained a Business and Law Certificate from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania and a Sustainable Finance Certificate from the University of Cambridge. 

Experience

  • Advised Telecom Italia S.p.A. on the jumbo private placement of €750 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes via a tap of the 7.875% senior notes issued in July 2023. The transaction is the largest ever privately placed European high yield rated bond issuance
  • Advised Telecom Italia S.p.A. on the issue of €750 million senior notes and on the related tender offers. The proceeds of the issuance were used to repay Telecom Italia’s near term maturing debt, including through the tender offers, as well as for general corporate purposes
  • Advised the initial purchasers on First Quantum Minerals’ offering of US$1,300 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes
  • Advised Altice USA on the issuance of $1.0 billion Senior Guaranteed Notes due 2028 by its subsidiary CSC Holdings
  • Advised Liberty Servicios Fijos LY (formerly known as Cabletica), a subsidiary of Liberty Latin America, on a $450 million financing package provided by IDB Invest. The financing package consisted of a $50 million A Loan and a $400 million B Loan/B-Bond structure. The B Loan/B-Bond structure was financed by a special purpose entity that acted as a participant in the IDB Invest B Loan and funded its participation through the issuance of $400 million Sustainability-Linked Senior Secured Notes due 2031
  • Advised Altice International S.à r.l. on the successful refinancing of €1.7 billion (equivalent) of Term Loans
  • Advised UPC Holding B.V. on a successful debt buyback transaction pursuant to a modified Dutch auction process, comprising a concurrent solicitation of offers in respect of outstanding senior notes, senior secured notes and senior secured term loans
  • Advised VodafoneZiggo on their first sustainability-linked bonds, €2.1 billion (equivalent) Sustainability-Linked Senior Secured Notes due 2032, that were issued in accordance with VodafoneZiggo’s newly established Sustainable Finance Framework, that is aligned with ICMA’s Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles  
  • Advised VodafoneZiggo on their first green bonds, €700 million Vendor Financing Notes due 2029, that were issued in accordance with VodafoneZiggo’s newly established Green Bond Framework, that is aligned with ICMA’s Green Bond Principles 
  • Advised Next Alt S.à r.l, an entity controlled by Patrick Drahi, the founder and majority shareholder of Altice Europe, a leading European cable, telecommunications and entertainment company  – on the financing aspects of its agreement with Altice Europe of an all cash offer valuing the company at €5.7 billion
  • Advised Baring Private Equity Asia on the US$1 billion+ acquisition of acquisition of Lumenis, a leading provider of specialty energy-based medical devices across the fields of aesthetics, urology, ophthalmology, ENT and gynaecology from XIO  
  • Advised VodafoneZiggo on a privately placed tap of their existing dollar denominated 4.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2030 , to redeem 10% of original principal amount of the Issuer’s dollar denominated 5.500% Senior Secured Notes due 2027
  • Advised the initial purchasers and lenders on Boparan Finance plc’s £475 million Senior Secured Notes offering and £80 million Revolving Credit Facility
  • Advised Liberty Global, Virgin Media and O2 on the £5.7 billion-equivalent, bond and loan secured financing in connection with the joint venture combination of O2 and Virgin Media by Liberty Global and Telefonica, creating a company with a value of more than £30 billion
  • Advised VodafoneZiggo on a private placement tap by an orphan SPV of €100 million 2.500% Vendor Financing Notes due 2034
  • Advised Goldman Sachs as underwriters in relation to NextGen’s special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) IPO, with the net proceeds of the offering totalling US$343,000,000
  • Advised Liberty Global on its US$3.6 billion-equivalent dual tranche loan financing arrangements for its proposed public to private acquisition of Swiss telecoms group Sunrise Communications Group pursuant to an offer which represents a total enterprise value of c US$7.7 billion
  • Advised VodafoneZiggo on its debut 'green bonds':  €700 million 2.875% Vendor Financing Notes due 2029, that will be issued by an orphan SPV in accordance with VodafoneZiggo’s newly established Green Bond Framework
  • Advised Goldman Sachs as underwriters in relation to MSD Capital’s special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) IPO, with the net proceeds of the offering totalling US$575,000,000
  • Advised Virgin Media on the $475 million-equivalent private placements taps of three tranches of existing senior secured notes, being the largest (by over two times) and the fastest private placement tap transaction that Goldman Sachs, who acted as placement agent, has ever seen in the market
  • Advised VodafoneZiggo on the issuance of US$500 million 4.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2030 and €425 million 2.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2030, and the refinancing of existing debt instruments
  • Advised VodafoneZiggo on a private placement tap of US$200 million 4.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2030 and €77.5 million 2.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2030, and the refinancing of existing debt instruments
  • Advising a Latin American telecoms company on its US$140 million equivalent multicurrency syndicated term loan and revolving credit facilities in connection with the financing of its acquisition of a leading Costa Rican cable operator
  • Acting for Cable & Wireless Communications on its SPV-structure US$500 million Rule 144A and Regulation S high yield notes offering 
  • Acting for Altice France S.A. in connection with the offering of €1 billion 5.875% senior secured notes due 2027 and US$1.75 billion 8.125% senior secured notes due 2027, and its US$2.5 billion term loan facility to refinance certain existing indebtedness
  • Acting for Virgin Media in a subsequent receivables financing notes issuance, an add-on offering to its IFLR Europe 2017 High Yield Deal of the Year
  • Acting for Samsonite International S.A., the world’s largest travel luggage company, on the offering of €350 million 3.5% Senior Notes due 2026 by Samsonite Finco S.a r.l.
  • Acting for Cequel Communications Holdings I, LLC and Cequel Capital Corporation and its subsidiaries in connection with the offering of US$1.05 billion 7.5% senior notes due 2028 to refinance certain existing senior notes, its US$285 million term loan facility, and refinancing of existing debt
  • Acting for CSC Holdings, LLC and its subsidiaries in connection with the offering of US$1 billion 5.375% senior guaranteed notes due 2028 to refinance certain existing indebtedness of CSC Holdings, LLC and its direct parent, Cablevision Systems Corporation, and to partially fund a dividend to Altice USA (through Cablevision Systems Corporation) in connection with the spin-off of Altice USA from Altice N.V. 
  • Acting for Telenet Finance Luxembourg Notes S.à r.l. in connection with the offering of €600 million 3.5% senior secured notes due 2028 and US$1 billion 5.5% senior secured notes due 2028 to refinance certain existing term loan facilities

Areas of Practice

    Disclaimer

    Ropes & Gray International LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in Delaware, United States of America and is a recognised body regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (with registered number 521000).