Lee West is a principal in Kirkland’s Platform Solutions Group, focused on financing, liability management and restructuring transactions. In his role, Lee focuses on providing market intelligence and financial analysis to sponsors and corporate clients who are considering options to address their capital structure, including strategic refinancings, extension transactions, liability management exercises and deleveraging transactions.
Prior to joining Kirkland, Lee worked for over a decade at financial services firms focused on restructuring and special situations, including seven years at Lazard where he advised sponsors, creditors and corporate clients on capital structure matters.
Representative Experience
Prior to joining Kirkland, Lee was involved in the following matters, representing:
- An ad hoc group of term lenders in connection with the prepackaged Chapter 11 restructuring of Trinseo PLC, which is expected to reduce its debt by approximately $2 billion and provide lenders with substantially all of the reorganized company's equity.
- A group of term loan lenders in connection with the recapitalization of Foundever Group S.A., which reduced total debt by nearly $900 million, extended maturities to 2030 and 2031 and included a $225 million equity investment from its majority shareholders.
- A crossholder group of 1L and 2L lenders in connection with the prepackaged Chapter 11 restructuring of ModivCare Inc., which eliminated approximately $1.1 billion of funded debt and transferred ownership of the company to its lenders.
- Consolis Group in connection with its comprehensive recapitalization, including a debt-for-equity exchange through which holders of its €300 million senior secured notes became majority shareholders, a three-year extension of its super senior revolving credit facility and €115 million of new liquidity.
- National CineMedia, LLC in connection with its prearranged Chapter 11 restructuring, which eliminated approximately $1.2 billion of debt through the equitization of its secured debt.
- Alto Maipo SpA in connection with its Chapter 11 restructuring of more than $2 billion of senior secured obligations related to its hydroelectric project in Chile.
- Transocean Ltd. in connection with its 2020 liability management transactions, including a private exchange of its exchangeable bonds and a subsequent exchange offer to restructure approximately $2 billion of its debt.
- Valaris plc in connection with its Chapter 11 restructuring, which eliminated $7.1 billion of debt and included a $520 million capital injection through the issuance of new secured notes.
- Hi-Crush Inc. in connection with its prearranged Chapter 11 restructuring, which eliminated approximately $450 million of unsecured notes and was funded in part by a $43 million rights offering.
