Sidley represented affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. in providing a US$500 million senior secured loan to, and its commitment to buy over the next 12 months the lesser of 4.9% or US$50 million in the common shares of, MFA Financial, Inc. In addition, Athene Holding Ltd. and Barclays have also entered into a non-mark-to-market term borrowing facility of approximately US$1.65 billion. Apollo and Athene will also receive a warrant package to purchase shares of MFA’s common stock at varying prices over a five-year period. Apollo is one of the largest global alternative asset managers with US$331 billion under management as of December 31, 2019. Athene is a retirement services company that issues, reinsures and acquires retirement savings products designed for the increasing number of individuals and institutions seeking to fund retirement needs. MFA Financial, through its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate investment trust in the U.S. and invests in residential mortgage assets.
The deal was led by partners Adam Weinstein (Private Equity), Daniel Serota (M&A) and Angela Fontana (Global Finance) and included partners Banks Bruce (Global Finance), Jennifer Coplan (Technology and IP Transactions), Samir Gandhi (Capital Markets), Nathan Greene (Investment Funds), Ivy Jones (Tax), Katie Klaben (Securities Enforcement and Regulatory), Brian Krisberg (Real Estate), Benjamin Rosemergy (Employee Benefits), Mark Werner (Global Finance), and Tracy Williams (Tax); senior counsel David C. Miller (Tax); counsel Eric Hoffman (Labor, Employment and Immigration), and Carol Whitesides (Investment Funds); and associates Andy Chen (Energy), Summer Danzeisen (Technology and IP Transactions), Boris Kessler (Private Equity), Betsy Mead (Capital Markets), Alexandra Peterson (Employee Benefits), Nikita Ponomarev (M&A), Lena Qiu (Tax), Anna Razzaio (M&A), Justin Stone (Global Finance), and P.C. Wang (Employee Benefits).
