William Brady is Head of the firm’s Alternative Lender and Private Credit Group, focused on the global private credit market. He is also a member of the Special Situations Group at Paul Hastings. Mr. Brady is based in the firm’s New York office.

Mr. Brady’s practice focuses on complex finance transactions and credit arrangements, particularly those financings that include multiple tranches of debt. He regularly structures and negotiates a wide range of financing facilities, such as mezzanine debt, second-lien loans, unitranche facilities, first-out/last-out and term "B" facilities, and holdco note purchases.

Mr. Brady represents a broad array of alternative lenders and investors, including traditional mezzanine funds, second lien lenders, hedge funds, BDCs, SBIC funds, and specialty finance companies, often in the context of domestic and cross-border leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, refinancings and restructurings. Over the past five years, he has structured and closed more than 150 financings for transactions ranging from $25 million to $4.5 billion.

Mr. Brady has extensive experience in intercreditor and interlender issues, secured creditor and bankruptcy rights and debt restructurings, and he regularly negotiates intercreditor and subordination agreements, agreements among lenders and other complex interlender agreements. His experience extends across a variety of industries, including technology, healthcare, energy, retail, media, communications, gaming, pharmaceuticals, biotech, manufacturing, financial services, insurance, security, and food services.

Chambers USA has recognized him for “standing out as an excellent negotiator” and being “very practical and clearly identifying the ‘must have’ versus the ‘nice to have’ elements of a transaction.”

• Massachusetts Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2009-2014
• Chambers USA: Banking and Finance, 2012

Notable Mentions

• Pitchbook: Leveraged Commentary & Data, "Borrowers Turn to Structured Capital, PIK with Debt Costs on the Rise," Mentioned in an article describing how lenders and borrowers are addressing current market conditions and the impact of structured capital. "The next six months are going to be tricky to navigate for all parties involved."
• LevFinInsights, "Private Credit Insight: Liquidity Becomes Paramount Among Direct Lenders" Quoted in an article focused on direct lending and liquidity. "Liquidity options include bridge loans, putting equity in, divestures and more."
• Refinitiv, “Rising Rates Set to Boost Private Credit Yields,” Quoted in a story regarding the expected rise in direct lending yields. "With rate hikes expected in 2022, many asset managers will benefit from higher margins being applied to their existing portfolio as well as new issuances, while borrowers will seek to monitor liquidity to continue servicing their debt closely."
• Refinitiv, “Direct Lenders to Continue Taking Syndicated Market Share in 2022”- Quoted in a story regarding the outlook for the private credit market in 2022. “Less execution risk and lack of flex provisions make private debt an attractive option, especially in the context of financing an LBO transaction.”
• Reuters, “Direct lenders weigh impact of aggressive Ebitda add-backs"- Mentioned in an article focused on aggressive lender-friendly features meant to reduce leverage as companies fail to hit revenue expectations.
  "If an investment is made or worse off, a dividend is taken pursuant to an incurrence test based on inflated Ebitda, that money is not coming back."
• Institutional Investor, "The High-Octane, In-Demand, and Worrying World of Risky Loans"- Mentioned in an article focused on risks associated with the expanding market of nonbank lending.
  "There’s “very, very little margin for error for companies because of the leverage. A couple hiccups, or a couple mistakes by management, and you can find yourself in a default scenario."
• Bloomberg Brief, "Private Credit's Dry Powder Waits for Downturn Opportunity"- Profiled in a Q&A session on the opportunities for private credit in a market downturn and the evolution of non-bank lending since 2009.
  "We are constantly trying to come up with new structures to make our clients more competitive and more attractive to the prospective borrower. We’ve also seen joint ventures where two asset managers get together and pitch to a private equity sponsor as one lender. Then they work out the deal among the lender group behind the scenes. It gives the sponsor reassurance that there is less execution risk."
• S&P Global, "Keep It Simple"- Mentioned in an article focused on private equity sponsors liking the simplified structure unitranche loans offer. "I have front-end deals, soft restructurings, hard restructurings. I’ve never had such a variety of things on my desk. It’s a hybrid market."

• Northeastern University School of Law, J.D., 2001
• University of San Diego School of Law, International Business Law Program (Barcelona and London), 1999
• Eckerd College, B.A. in Political Science, 1997