Cleary Gottlieb Counsel in Two IFLR Americas “Deals of the Year”; Lee Buchheit Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award

Cleary Gottlieb received awards for its roles in both the “Debt- and Equity-Linked Deal of the Year” and the “Restructuring Deal of the Year” at International Financial Law Review’s Americas Awards 2010 dinner, held in New York on March 25. In addition, Cleary Gottlieb partner Lee Buchheit was presented with IFLR’s inaugural lifetime achievement award for his contributions to international finance and sovereign debt restructuring.

Bank of America’s December 2009 $19.9 billion “common equivalent” securities offering was named “Debt- and Equity-Linked Deal of the Year.” The firm advised Bank of America in connection with the transaction. The proceeds from the novel offering were used as part of Bank of America’s $45 billion TARP repayment.

CIT Group’s restructuring was named “Restructuring Deal of the Year.” Cleary Gottlieb advised an affiliate of Goldman Sachs as counterparty to an affiliate of CIT Group. According to IFLR, CIT Group’s bankruptcy is the largest-ever pre-packaged bankruptcy solicitation.

IFLR, published monthly by Euromoney, provides news and analysis of developments in financial markets law, including international deals, legislative changes, practice issues, latest techniques and best practice strategies.