Emilie E. Stewart

EMILIE STEWART advises clients on a wide variety of cross-border financing transactions, with a particular focus on advising private equity, special situations, and opportunistic investors. She has extensive experience advising on real asset transactions, including in the real estate, infrastructure, and energy sectors, including in transactions involving back leverage. Emilie also advises special situations and opportunistic sponsors on their alternative capital investments, with particular experience with heavily structured hybrid investments and NPLs.

Emilie is recommended for Property Finance by Legal 500 UK 2026. Sources state, “Emilie E. Stewart was a leading figure in the transaction, aware of the needs of the several participating counterparties and driven to close out all outstanding points with all parties in the most efficient manner.” She is also recommend for Commercial Property: Investment, Property Finance, Infrastructure: M&A and acquisition financing, and Securitisation by Legal 500 UK 2025. The 2024 edition ranks her for Commercial Property: Investment, Property Finance, and Securitisation. Sources from the 2023 edition stated, “Emilie is a key partner for us, very committed and lots of energy to ensure the deal gets done efficiently. She takes no prisoners in negotiations” and “is a highly skilled technical lawyer offering pragmatic solutions.” The 2022 edition of Legal 500 UK recognized her for Private Equity Transactions. The London Private Equity practice was honored as “Private Equity Team of the Year” in the 2021 Legal Business Awards.

Prior to joining Sidley, Emilie was a member of the private equity and finance team at another international law firm.

Emilie’s representative experience includes advising:

Real Estate Finance

• Macquarie Asset Management on its clients’ investment in £400 million in notes related to a portfolio of commercial ground leases. In this innovative transaction, the notes are secured against a portfolio of 55 ASDA supermarket sites across the UK.
• Fortress Investment Group on the acquisition of Punch Pubs & Co.
• A U.S. private equity sponsor on the acquisition and financing of a real estate business from a Spanish bank, consisting of a real estate servicing business and a portfolio of real estate assets located primarily in Spain, with a net book value of approximately €7 billion, and related joint venture arrangements.
• A U.S. private equity sponsor in the acquisition of a group owning a real estate asset located in La Défense, Paris, out of an insolvent structure, and the subsequent refinancing of the group.
• A U.S. private equity sponsor for the financing of the acquisition of a government-owned entity holding distressed real estate interests in Germany.
• A U.S. private equity sponsor on the acquisition and loan-on-loan financing of a real estate servicing business owning a CRE-backed non-performing loan portfolio from the Dutch government.
• A U.S. private equity sponsor in connection with the acquisition and loan-on-loan financing for a portfolio of commercial real estate debts located in Spain and Portugal with a face value of €4.4 billion.
• A U.S. private equity fund on the loan-on-loan financing for its credit investment in a Dutch office building.
• A number of large financial institutions on their loan-on-loan financings and English aspects of their repo financings, in each case for real estate-backed loans across Europe (including in the UK and Spain).
• A Spanish homebuilder on its super senior RCF in connection with its green bond issuance of €300 million senior secured notes.
• A portfolio company for a U.S. private equity fund, on its SSRCF alongside its green bond offering of €300 million senior secured notes.

Special Situations, Alternative Capital, and Hybrid Opportunities

• A large U.S. hedge fund on its convertible debt investment in a Canadian infrastructure company.
• Eldridge Industries, a leading investment firm and partner in Fulwell 73, in its merger with The SpringHill Company, which included an investment via a convertible debt instrument. 
• Multiple special situations investors on their joint acquisition of Iona Energy, out of an administration and CVA and related financing, co-investment, and management incentive arrangements.
• A U.S. group on aspects of its restructuring and the disposal of its North Sea business.
• A global private equity fund in the acquisition of a portfolio of non-performing Irish corporate debt and equity positions with a face value of €2.5 billion and the subsequent work-out and restructuring of a number of such positions.
• A private credit desk within a bank and its co-investor on the acquisition and financing of a distressed loan portfolio in CEE.
• Two special situations investors on the acquisition of various commercial shipping loan portfolios.
• An opportunistic investor on the financing for their acquisition of a portfolio of distressed loan and real estate assets located in Spain, from Banco Sabadell.
• An alternative lender on a number of its bespoke credit investments in telecom companies located across the Middle East.

Energy and Infrastructure Finance

• Pictet Alternative Advisors in certain financing aspects of its acquisition of Pareto FM.
• One Equity Partners and Buckthorn Partners in connection with their financing for the acquisition of Amey UK plc from Ferrovial.
• An NYSE-listed independent energy company on the refinancing of its debt portfolio secured by producing properties in the UK North Sea.
• An O&G corporate on its financing for the successfully completed US$1.4 billion acquisition of a 50% ownership interest in Petrobras Oil and Gas B.V., which owns interests in two of Africa’s largest producing oil and gas assets, located offshore Nigeria.
• A UK oil company on its raising of funds through forward sales, prepaid swaps, and production payments.

Some of the above matters were handled prior to joining Sidley.

• Law Society of England and Wales