RICHARD PETRETTI has a reputation as a top-tier finance lawyer with particular experience in the media and entertainment industry. His extensive experience includes handling syndicated loans, leveraged acquisition financings, recapitalizations, and a broad array of other financial and capital markets products, such as letters of credit, repurchase agreements, forward purchase contracts, and secured notes. He also has experience representing debtors, creditors, agents for lender syndicates, and investors in complex restructurings, workouts, bankruptcies, and acquisitions of troubled companies.
Richard’s media and entertainment experience includes secured and unsecured film, television, and music financings, production and acquisition facilities for slates and single-pictures, ultimates and library-backed financings, music catalog financings, funding for prints and advertising, and financing for companies providing services to the entertainment industry in lending, loan workouts, debt restructurings, and corporate matters. Richard advises banks and other major financial institutions as well as major studios, mini-majors, independent film companies, joint ventures, and special purpose entities.
Richard is also actively engaged in a broad array of transactions outside the media and entertainment world, with extensive experience representing regulated broker-dealers and other financial services companies as borrowers. He also has experience over a broad range of other industries, including healthcare, retailing, telecommunications, broadcasting, cable television, satellites, undersea fiber optic cables, hospitality, aviation, shipping, railroads, trucking, energy, chemicals, and infrastructure. Transactions often involve complex Intercreditor or cross-border issues. Richard has always enjoyed new product development. Recently, he has advised on structures involving creation and financing of carbon credits.
Richard has been recognized by Variety in both their “Legal Impact” (2017 – 2022) and “Dealmakers Impact” (2016 – 2021) reports for this work. The IFLR1000 has also named him as a “Notable Practitioner” (2019 – 2021).
Richard is a member of Sidley’s legal opinion committee and is also often asked to consult on Uniform Commercial Code issues.
Richard earned his J.D. from the New York University School of Law. He also holds a B.S.E. in Aerospace and Mechanical Sciences from Princeton University, and an S.M. in Ocean Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he focused on the Law of the Sea and the interplay between ocean policy and the law. Prior to practicing law, Richard worked briefly with a consulting environmental engineering firm.
Awards and Recognitions
- Featured, “Legal Impact Report,” Variety (2017 – 2022)
- Featured, “Dealmakers Impact Report,” Variety (2016 – 2021)