Kirsteen Nicol

Partner Debt Finance

Kirkland & Ellis International LLP

M +44 78 8975 5537

Practices

Overview

Kirsteen Nicol is a go-to practitioner in the London finance market and is noted in particular for her strength in large-cap cross-border financings. - Chambers UK, 2026

Kirsteen Nicol is a banking partner in the London office of Kirkland & Ellis International LLP. Her practice is primarily focused on representing sponsors and portfolio companies on complex, cross border leveraged financings. Kirsteen has a broad range of banking and debt finance experience, including syndicated and credit fund lending, leveraged acquisitions, take private transactions across Europe, corporate lending and general banking.

Kirsteen has been recognised:

by Chambers UK (2026) for London: Banking & Finance
as a “Leading Individual” by The Legal 500 UK (2026)
by Chambers UK as a “top lawyer and a trusted partner” (2024)
by The Legal 500 UK as a “Leading Individual” (2024)
by Legal Business in its list of “Women Deal Stars – Alpha 2.0” (2023)
by IFLR1000 in the “Highly Regarded” category (2023) for Banking and listed in IFLR1000 Women Leaders 2023 – EMEA.
by Legal Week in its list of “Rising Stars: The UK's Best Up and Coming Female Lawyers” (2021)
by The Lawyer as a dealmaker in the “Hot 100” (2019), which celebrates the United Kingdom’s top lawyers acting on the most significant matters with creative flair.

Experience

Hellman & Friedman on the investment in Mehiläinen

Blackstone:

on its minority investment in consortium acquisition of Autostrade per l'Italia S.p.A.
on the acquisition of the Huws Gray group and the UK merchanting businesses of the Grafton Group
on the acquisition of a majority stake in VFS Global, a global leader in visa outsourcing services
and Brown Bidco Limited on the $4.73 billion recommended take private of Signature Aviation, the world’s largest fixed base operation network for business & general aviation travellers

EQT to announce financing for acquisition of Keywords Studios Plc

GoldenTree’s Travelodge to complete senior secured notes offering

J.M. Huber Corporation on the sale of CP Kelco to Tate & Lyle

Madison Dearborn:

and HPS of their portfolio company, The Ardonagh Group’s refinancing by way of the largest-ever unitranche financing transaction globally
The Ardonagh Group on the acquisition of Arachas Corporate Brokers, a commercial insurance brokerage based in Ireland

Partners Group:

on the acquisition by its portfolio company, Emeria, of First Port, a UK residential property management services company
on the acquisition by its portfolio company, Rovensa, of Cosmocel, a Mexican bionutrients and biological solutions company
on the acquisition of Forterro, a leading pan-European software services provider
on the refinancing of Emeria, a residential real estate services market company
on the acquisition of process and conveyor belt businesses Ammeraal Beltech and Megadyne
on the acquisition of German energy services provider Techem from Macquarie
on the acquisition of Civica, a public sector software company
on their and PSP’s acquisition of Cerba HealthCare, a medical biology laboratories company

Pamplona Capital Management:

on the acquisition of EET, an IT logistics and equipment supply business
on the acquisition of Pelsis, a global manufacturer and distributor of pest control products
on the acquisition of Signature Foods, a chilled food company, from IK Investment Partners
on the acquisition of Loparex, a leading manufacturer of release liners
on the acquisition and subsequent sale of Partner in Pet Food, a leading pet food company

SK Capital:

on exclusive negotiations to acquire LISI Group’s medical division
on the $538 million sale of IPACKCHEM
on the acquisition by its portfolio company, Archroma, of the textiles business of Huntsman
on the formation of a consortium with Heubach Group and the subsequent acquisition of Clariant's Pigments business
on its acquisition of Ipackchem, a designer and manufacturer of high performance packaging
on its further investment in, and the $1.03 billion senior secured and second lien refinancing of Archroma, a specialty chemicals company

Thoma Bravo:

backed Flexera on its debt financing recapitalization
backed EQS Group on the acquisition of Data Legal Drive
on its acquisition of Darktrace Private
on its acquisition of a majority stake in Hypergene
on its agreement to launch the public takeover offer for EQS Group AG
and its portfolio company J.D. Power on its investment in AutoVista
backed SailPoint on the completion of a recommended cash acquisition of Osirium Technologies
and its portfolio company Veriforce on the acquisition of CHAS
on the voluntary cash offer for Mercell, a Norwegian digital tendering company
on the acquisition of Talend, a leader in data integration and integrity
on the strategic investment in software company, Condeco
on the £3.1 billion recommended cash offer for Sophos, an IT security company

Vitruvian Partners:

on the acquisition of Aspia
on the acquisition of Outpost24, a cybersecurity risk management company
on the acquisition and subsequent refinancing of Accountor, a financial and HR management software services company
on the acquisition of Fotona Group, a medical laser system company
on the acquisition of EasyPark, a parking tech company, and subsequent add on of Park Now
on the refinancing of Benify, a global benefits and rewards platform
on the acquisition and subsequent recap of Phlexglobal, an intelligent software company for life sciences data management
on the acquisition of CRF Health, a technology solutions company for clinical trials
on the acquisition of Unifaun, a global leader in cloud delivery management solutions
on the acquisition of CFC Underwriting, a specialist insurance provider

Proofpoint on the acquisition of Tessian

Apollo on its recommended all-cash acquisition of The Restaurant Group

Hyland Software to complete a comprehensive debt refinancing

Magnet Forensics on the acquisition of Griffeye

Travelodge on its high-yield refinancing and shareholder distribution

An ad hoc group of lenders to Archer Limited on the successful refinancing and recapitalization of its $600 million term loan

NortonLifeLock on its c. $25 billion combination with Avast

Crystal Almond Holdings Limited on the sale of Greek telecoms operator Wind Hellas to United Group

E2Open on the $1.7 billion acquisition of BluJay Solutions, a leading international cloud-based, logistics execution platform

Cineworld Group PLC in obtaining $450 million in additional financing, providing liquidity in response to the impact of COVID-19 on the company and the cinema industry

Levine Leichtman Capital Partners:

on the acquisition of SK Aerosafety Group, an aircraft maintenance and safety company
on the acquisition of Law Business Research and the subsequent add on of Globe Business Media Group
on the acquisition of GL Education, a provider of education assessments

EG Group (Euro Garage), a portfolio company of TDR Capital:

on the acquisitions of Woolworths Group’s petrol division in Australia
on the acquisitions of Cumberland Farms, Woolworth’s Group petrol division in Australia, 762 forecourt convenience sites in the U.S. from The Kroger Group and Esso Deutschland GmbH (1000 Esso Service Stations in Germany) from Exxon Mobil Corporation

Apax on the acquisition of a majority stake in matchesfashion.com

Goldman Sachs, Park Square and NGA Human Resources on the sale of NGA’s UK mid-market and small and medium business divisions

Advent International’s €2.1 billion refinancing of Oberthur Technologies and acquisition of Morpho

CapVest/IBA Molecular on the carve-out acquisition from Mallinckrodt Plc of its global nuclear imaging radiopharmaceuticals division

Mydentist’s offering of £425 million of senior secured bonds and private placement of £130 million of second lien bonds

Park Square and PIA’s restructuring and acquisition of Northgate

Travelodge on its £390 million senior secured notes bond refinancing and subsequent notes issuances

Sycamore Partners’ acquisition of EMP Merchandising

Labco’s offering of €100 million 8 1/2% Senior Secured Notes due 2018

Greenbriar Equity Group’s acquisition of World Freight Company

Recognition

Recognised for London: Banking & Finance, Chambers & Partners UK, 2025

Recognised as a “Leading Individual”, The Legal 500 UK, 2025

Credentials

Admissions & Qualifications

2010, Admitted to practice as a Solicitor of Scotland

Education

University of AberdeenDiploma in Legal Practice2007
University of GlasgowLL.B., LawFirst Class Honours2006

Practices

Representative Matters

Recognition

Credentials

Admissions & Qualifications

Education