Philip
Stopford

Mr. Stopford represents investment banks, commercial banks, private equity sponsors, corporate borrowers and alternative lenders on super senior, senior and subordinated financing arrangements, in Europe and internationally.

Mr. Stopford has been repeatedly recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers Europe, Chambers Global, Chambers UK and The Legal 500 UK. He has been ranked in the Banking & Finance: Big Ticket category by Chambers UK and in the Acquisition Finance and Bank Lending: Investment Grade Debt and Syndicated Loans categories by The Legal 500 UK. Mr. Stopford has been identified as “a consummate professional who provides good, clear, reliable, actionable advice” and “a true trusted advisor with a great delivery and a sense of humor that makes him a great communicator.” He “has the ability to advise on both legal and commercial issues, combined with pragmatism and an ability to find solutions.”

Since joining Cravath in 2023, Mr. Stopford’s notable transactions include representing the debt providers in financings for the €1.65 billion public‑to‑private acquisition of Applus+ by TDR Capital and I Squared Capital, the £1.2 billion public‑to‑private acquisition of LSE‑listed Spirent Communications by Keysight and the £534 million public-to-private acquisition of LSE‑listed Hotel Chocolat by Mars; the lead arrangers and working capital lenders in the amendment and extension, and upsizing, of the $3 billion term loan B, revolving and bonding facilities made available to Aggreko; the lead arrangers and RCF banks in the amendment and extension, and upsizing, of Boluda’s existing term loan and multi‑currency revolving facilities; and the sole physical bookrunner and the agent in the €4.1 billion amend and extend refinancing transaction for EG Group.

Prior to joining Cravath, Mr. Stopford’s notable transactions include representing the lenders in connection with financing the acquisition of T-Mobile Netherlands by Apax Funds and Warburg Pincus, the £2.3 billion public‑to‑private acquisition of Aggreko by I Squared Capital and TDR Capital, the £30 billion public‑to‑private acquisition of Sky by Comcast, the €3.1 billion public‑to‑private acquisition of Iliad Group by Xavier Niel, the acquisition of Sanoptis by Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, the £563 million public-to-private acquisition of Arrow Global by TDR Capital and the acquisition of Acqua & Sapone by HIG Capital. His borrower-side representations prior to joining the Firm include various acquisition financings for DBAY and various financing transactions for GlobalFoundries, Mubadala and Bridgepoint, including in its acquisitions of Element Materials and Moneycorp. Prior to joining Cravath, Mr. Stopford also represented various stakeholders in a number of restructuring transactions, including Frigoglass in restructuring its existing bank and bond debt and DBAY in the rescue financing for Eddie Stobart.

Mr. Stopford was born in Washington, D.C. He received a B.A. in 2004 in mathematics with honors from Oxford University, a PGDL in 2005 with merit from Oxford Brookes University and an LPC in 2006 with distinction from the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice.