Paul W. Dunbar
20 Fenchurch Street
24th Floor
London EC3M 3BY
United Kingdom
The most rewarding part of my work is getting to know clients well and gaining their trust over the course of numerous transactions. You’re an essential part of each deal and in the long term, helping them achieve their goals. Paul Dunbar advises private equity and special situations clients on M&A, NPL portfolio acquisitions and securitizations, JVs, distressed debt and equity investments and restructurings.
Across Europe, Paul works with clients investing in a range of industries, including financial services and assets, real estate, shipping and aviation, technology, manufacturing and construction and renewable energy.
Paul spent six months seconded to TPG Capital and Sixth Street Partners as European Counsel in 2012, giving him key insights into his clients’ needs.
Paul’s M&A experience was recognized by the Legal 500 UK, with reviewers praising him as a “very commercial” attorney who negotiates effectively and is also skilled at coordinating legal teams (2018).
NPL Portfolios and Financial Assets
A US private equity sponsor in connection with the acquisition and financing of the Project Verde portfolio of nonperforming commercial real estate loans located in Spain and Portugal with a face value of €4.4 billion
A consortium of investors on bids to acquire the Project Nassau and Project Westminster shipping NPL portfolios from Cerberus
Goldman Sachs on the acquisition of various shipping loans
Deutsche Bank and CarVal on the acquisition of the Project Forge CRE NPL portfolio and related financing
Davidson Kempner on the acquisition of the Project White II portfolio of loans secured on shipping vessels
A US private equity sponsor on its bid to invest, through a securitization structure, in the Project Pillar and Project Cairo residential mortgage portfolios with the Greek bank Eurobank, and in respect of its bid to acquire the Greek servicer FPS
Varde Partners on bids to acquire various shipping loans
Deutsche Bank and EoS on the financing of the Project Pathfinder loan portfolio secured on real estate in CEE
Davidson Kempner on the acquisition of the Project Aqua portfolio of loans secured on aviation assets
A US private equity sponsor on the acquisition of a European bad bank from The Netherlands
A German bank on its bid to acquire the Project Sunset portfolio of unsecured consumer loans from Insight
J.C. Flowers on its bid to acquire KBL, the Luxembourg headquartered private bank
TPG Capital on its bid to acquire GlobeOp Financial Services, the London-listed hedge fund administrator
A private equity sponsor on its bid to acquire from Banco Sabadell three portfolios of real estate assets and non-performing loans secured on real estate, each located in Spain and with an aggregate face value of €3.9 billion
A US private equity sponsor on its bid to acquire, using vendor stapled debt, the Project Helix portfolio of Cypriot real estate backed corporate loans and other non-performing exposures from Bank of Cyprus, with an aggregate face value of €2.8 billion and a contractual balance of €5.7 billion
A US private equity sponsor on its bid to acquire a 51% stake in Banco Popular from Banco Santander
Two special situations funds on their combined bid to acquire JPMorgan’s Global Special Situations business
TPG SSP and Goldman Sachs Special Situations on the acquisition of the Project Lundy portfolio of distressed equity and debt assets from Lloyds Banking Group plc, and the related establishment of an asset management platform
A US private equity sponsor on the acquisition and financing of a real estate business from a Spanish bank, consisting of a real estate servicing business and a portfolio of real estate assets located primarily in Spain, with a net book value of approximately €7 billion, and related joint venture arrangements
Goldman Sachs MBD on the establishment of the Riverstone assisted living business
A US private equity sponsor on the sale of a leading golf and country club operator in the UK to the UK private equity fund Epiris LLP
TPG Capital in respect of the acquisition of the Woolgate Exchange and related co-invest and asset management arrangements with Ivanhoe Cambridge
TPG Capital on the acquisition of Uni-Invest BV, a commercial real estate business in The Netherlands, through the first European commercial mortgage backed securities restructuring post final maturity
A US private equity sponsor on its bid to acquire the Medical Park group of hospitals from Carlyle
Goldman Sachs and TPG in respect of their investment in GHG hospitals
Monarch Alternative Capital on the acquisition of Executive Care Group and the proposed establishment of an additional care home platform
A US private equity fund on its €3.17 billion carve-out acquisition of a global construction chemicals business from a public company
SSP and Oaktree on the acquisition of Iona Energy, out of an administration and CVA, and related financing, co-investment and management incentive arrangements
CIC in respect of the management incentive arrangements for the Project Neptune transaction with Carlyle and CVC
A US private equity sponsor and its portfolio company on the bolt-on acquisition of a leading clay roof tile business in Portugal
A US private equity sponsor on the proposed carve-out acquisition of a pan-European clay roof tile business from Etex
A US private equity sponsor on its bid to acquire M Group Services from First Reserve
A US private equity sponsor on the auction sale of one of its Italian portfolio companies in the manufacturing sector to a strategic buyer
A US private equity sponsor and its Italian portfolio company on several bolt-on acquisitions, including of one of the largest manufacturers of professional manual espresso machines in Spain, a distribution business in the USA, and a leading manufacturer of coffee machines in North America
A US private equity sponsor and its German portfolio company on the acquisition of the Macon Group, Romania’s largest AAC producer and one of the largest manufacturers of building materials in the Romanian market, from private equity funds managed by Enterprise Investors
Njord Partners in respect of several growth debt and equity investments in technology focused companies in the transportation sector
Warwick Capital on the establishment of a shipping joint venture platform with the Tsakos family
A US private equity sponsor on a proposed shipping joint venture with Trafigura
A private equity sponsor in respect of a proposed investment in a European solar power project
A US growth equity fund on a proposed preferred equity and convertible debt investment in a UK online retail business
Obi Worldphone on several rounds of equity capital raising
P2P Global Investments on equity and debt investments in several peer-to-peer lending platforms
Lending Works Limited on several rounds of equity capital raising, general corporate matters and regulatory issues
Centerbridge Partners on the loan-to-own acquisition of the leading German auto-repair distributor ATU
Alchemy Partners on the acquisition of Endeka Ceramics in Spain
TPG Capital in respect of its investment in the Vita Group, a leading manufacturer of flexible polyurethane, latex and flooring products
TPG Capital on various capital injections into the online and high street fashion chain Republic, and its subsequent administration
Luxfer Holdings on its restructuring through a UK scheme of arrangement and subsequent IPO
Essar Energy – advising the ad hoc committee of Convertible Noteholders in connection with the take private offer by the company’s controlling shareholder
Lafarge in respect of its joint venture with Anglo-American to form the Tarmac business
Lafarge in respect of the sale of its European Gypsum business to Etex
Huntsman Corporation in its $522 million initial public offering of Venator Materials plc, a global chemical company incorporated in the UK
A multinational energy company in respect of a proposed merger with a UK headquartered energy major
Salix Pharmaceuticals in its terminated combination with Cosmo Technologies, a subsidiary of Cosmo Pharmaceuticals, to form Salix Pharmaceuticals, plc
Credentials
- University of Oxford, Oriel College
- Legal 500 UK, Mergers & Acquisitions: Upper Mid-market and Premium Deal – £250 million+, 2016, 2018 and 2020
- England and Wales
- Rankings & AwardsSeptember 26, 2019
- Rankings & AwardsOctober 29, 2018
- InsightNovember 30, 2016
First published in Investing in Distressed Debt in Europe: The TMA Handbook for Practitioners
- “Shareholder Engagement & Communication London: Constructive Strategies for Issuers,” The Bloomsbury, February 7, 2017