Sophie Coggan

Senior Associate Pouarataki Pāhake

Sophie is a specialist banking and finance lawyer with strong experience acting for both financier and borrower clients. She has advised on a wide range of national and cross-border banking and finance matters, including acquisition and leveraged finance, project finance, real estate finance, general corporate lending, debt restructuring, derivatives and regulatory and advisory work.

Sophie’s clients vary from private equity houses, banks, alternative lenders and large domestic and multi-national corporates. She also has worked with in-house lender clients over several secondments. Sophie takes a pragmatic and commercial approach to all projects and consistently delivers legal advice and solutions that are tailored to a client’s needs.

Sophie began her legal career at MinterEllisonRuddWatts in 2010 before leaving for London in 2012 to undertake a Master of Laws at the London School of Economics, which she passed with distinction. Following completion of her postgraduate degree, Sophie spent over eight years working in London within the banking and finance team at leading, global law firm Gowling WLG.

Career highlights

Advising a range of New Zealand financial institutions on their regulatory compliance and change projects as those relate to financial law including supporting a major New Zealand bank in connection with a significant redocumentation project relating to their business bank lending documents.

Acting for a significant charitable institution on the arrangement of its new secured, club financing. This was an important strategic financing for the client which consolidated its banking arrangements with four lenders under a unified club structure.

Acted for a UK based institutional-grade energy efficiency infrastructure investor, in respect of sustainable project finance investments across the UK.

Regularly acted as lead UK counsel for a US based private equity firm in relation to the leveraged finance arrangements of several of its portfolio companies in the tech sector across multiple jurisdictions including, with an average deal size of ~£100 million syndicated multicurrency facilities.

Acted for a Dutch logistics operator in connection with the refinancing of its €166 million syndicated facilities spanning multiple jurisdictions.

Advised a UK based private equity firm in respect of finance facilities supporting a £110 million leveraged buy-out of a motor vehicle finance technology company.

Regularly acted for UK clearing banks in relation to a wide variety of UK and multi-national acquisition and working capital facilities provided to corporates across the tech, media, telecommunications, retail and leisure sectors.

Regularly acted for a global investment firm in respect of the financing and refinancing of several UK retail parks with average aggregate facilities of over £200m.

Achievements and recognition
  • Tier 1 team, Banking and FInance, The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific
  • Tier 1 team, Restructuring and Insolvency, The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific