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For much of the past two decades, multinational companies operated under a working assumption that, despite local variation, global...
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Akin Gump
Amy Kennedy
Partner
London, United Kingdom
About me
Address: London: Eighth Floor, Ten Bishops Square, London E1 6EG
Areas of Focus: Finance; Corporate; Mergers & Acquisitions; Sustainability; Special Situations; Private Credit; Leveraged Finance; Projects & Energy Transition; Preferred Equity & Hybrid Capital; Capital Solutions
Biography:
Amy represents leading investors and companies on a wide variety of financing transactions across the credit spectrum, with a particular focus on special situations transactions. Clients rely on Amy to deliver capital solutions on complex transactions across debt & equity, including hybrid capital & preferred equity. She also has significant experience advising on liability management transactions and has advised on a range of complex international and cross-border financial restructuring transactions.
Amy’s clients include special situations investors, private equity sponsors, banks and other financial institutions, including credit funds, hedge funds, non-bank alternative capital providers and direct lenders and other corporates, including client portfolio companies.
In addition, Amy is experienced in more general lending, including investment grade and corporate transactions. She leads fund financing transactions, including net asset value, general partner and subscription lines. Amy has experience with complex senior/mezzanine/second-lien structures, payment-in-kind lending, high-yield, unitranche/private placement and U.S. financings. She has also represented both banks and corporations in Islamic/Shari’ah-based lending, including co-conventional structures.
Amy has worked across a number of sectors, including investment management & private equity, health care & life sciences, chemicals, oil & gas, real estate, retail and telecom, media & technology (TMT).
Amy is co-leader of Akin’s sustainability group and has experience in cutting-edge green and sustainability-linked financial products in the public and private debt markets.
Prior to joining Akin, Amy was a partner in the global finance and private equity practice groups at another leading global law firm. She has practiced in London, New York and Dubai.
Widely recognized as a leading lawyer, Amy was most recently named among IFLR1000 ‘s Women Leaders for 2023. The award is bestowed upon “lawyers with an outstanding transactional reputation” and is “reserved for the most prominent women lawyers around the world.”
Amy was also identified by The Lawyer as one of the Hot 100 and named a Rising Star in finance at the annual Euromoney Legal Media Group Europe Women in Business Law Awards. Further, Amy is ranked as Highly Regarded in IFLR1000 for banking. She is listed by the Euromoney Legal Media Group ’s inaugural Rising Stars Awards for the practice area category banking and finance and also as a Rising Star in the country category for the United Kingdom.
Representative Work:
- Advising Bain Capital Special Situations on its funding of a merger between The Markerstudy Group and Atlanta Group, The Ardonagh Group’s personal lines broking business, to create a major new player in the U.K. insurance market.
- Advising a private equity investment firm on the restructuring of its portfolio company, a South African headquartered health and wellness business.
- Advising a private equity investment firm on its offer to buy-back GPB890m of lender debt through a reverse Dutch auction – the first of its kind in the European debt market.
- Advising the ad hoc group of lenders on the refinancing of Hurtigruten AS, a Norwegian cruise line and coastal ferry business.
- Advising HPS Investment Partners in the refinancing of Havila Kystruten, a Norwegian shipping company.
- In relation to the $1.9 billion financial restructuring of Swissport, advised a PIK lender group on a €500 million new long-term debt facility and a €300 million super senior interim financing.
Credentials:
Education: L.P.C., Inns of Court School of Law, 2006; M.A., University of Oxford, 2005
Bar Admissions: Solicitor, England and Wales, 2008
Recognitions:
- IFLR1000 , Women Leaders for 2023.
- The Le gal 500 U K, Bank Lending: Investment Grade Debt and Syndicated Loans; Projects, Energy and Natural Resources: Power, 2022.
- Euromoney , Expert Guides, Rising Stars 2020 and 2021; United Kingdom – Banking and Finance, 2020 and 2021.
- IFLR1000, Highly Regarded for Banking, 2020.
- The Lawyer , Hot 100, 2019.
- Euromoney, Europe Women in Business Law Awards, Rising Star in Finance.
Affiliations:
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Insights:
- Akin Advises TPG, Oaktree and Oak Hill on Financing for Recommended Acquisition of evoke by Bally’s Intralot (June 9, 2026): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/press-releases/akin-advises-tpg-oaktree-and-oak-hill-on-financing-for-recommended-acquisition-of-evoke-by-ballys-intralot
- Akin Advises Kennedy Lewis on €2 Billion+ Strategic Partnership with Bank of Ireland (March 13, 2026): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/press-releases/akin-advises-kennedy-lewis-on-euro2-billion-strategic-partnership-with-bank-of-ireland
- Cross-Border Regulatory Divergence: Governance Risk, Strategic Friction and a New Lever for Shareholder Activism (March 11, 2026): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/articles/cross-border-regulatory-divergence-governance-risk-strategic-friction-and-a-new-lever-for-shareholder-activism
- Speaking Sustainability - Legal & Regulatory Updates - February 2026 (March 5, 2026): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/blogs/speaking-sustainability/speaking-sustainability-legal-and-regulatory-updates-february-2026
- Akin Advises Helios and HFP on $297 Million Take‑Private Offer for CAB Payments (March 4, 2026): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/press-releases/akin-advises-helios-and-hfp-on-dollar297-million-takeprivate-offer-for-cab-payments
- Speaking Sustainability - Legal & Regulatory Updates - January 2026 (February 12, 2026): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/blogs/speaking-sustainability/speaking-sustainability-legal-and-regulatory-updates-january-2026
- Speaking Sustainability - Legal & Regulatory Updates - December 2025 (January 15, 2025): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/blogs/speaking-sustainability/speaking-sustainability-legal-and-regulatory-updates-december-2025
- Speaking Sustainability - Legal & Regulatory Updates - November 2025 (December 12, 2025): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/blogs/speaking-sustainability/speaking-sustainability-legal-and-regulatory-updates-november-2025
- Speaking Sustainability - Legal & Regulatory Updates - October 2025 (November 7, 2025): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/blogs/speaking-sustainability/speaking-sustainability-legal-and-regulatory-updates-october-2025
- Speaking Sustainability - Legal & Regulatory Updates | September 2025 (October 2, 2025 ): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/blogs/speaking-sustainability/speaking-sustainability-legal-and-regulatory-updates-or-september-2025
- Speaking Sustainability - Legal & Regulatory Updates | August 2025 (September 5, 2025): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/blogs/speaking-sustainability/speaking-sustainability-legal-and-regulatory-updates-or-august-2025
- Speaking Sustainability - Legal & Regulatory Updates | July 2025 (July 31, 2025): https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/blogs/speaking-sustainability/speaking-sustainability-legal-and-regulatory-updates-or-july-2025