Law firm Stephenson Harwood LLP has strengthened its finance capabilities with the appointment of Julie Romer as partner in its London office.

Romer is a debt finance lawyer with particular expertise in leveraged and acquisition finance and general corporate lending. She has more than 20 years of experience advising lenders, private equity sponsors and corporate borrowers on domestic and cross-border financing transactions, including management buyouts and buy-ins, bolt-on acquisitions, general corporate financings and refinancings and restructuring.

“We’ve identified a strategic opportunity to expand our leveraged and acquisition finance expertise, and are keen to build on our existing capabilities in this area,” said James Linforth, head of banking, Stephenson Harwood. “Julie is an outstanding lawyer who is well-known for her commercial insight and technical abilities, as well as the depth of her leveraged finance experience. The addition of a lawyer of her skillset will be a valuable asset to the team, and I look forward to working with her.”

“The firm’s finance group has diversified and grown significantly in recent years – across a wide range of practice areas and sectors – as we continue to align ourselves with our clients’ evolving needs,” said Tammy Samuel, head of finance, Stephenson Harwood. “Julie joining our team bolsters our specialty leveraged finance expertise, which is particularly valuable for our existing lender clients and our growing number of private equity sponsor clients.”

Stephenson Harwood launched its dedicated private equity practice in 2016 with the arrival of partners Jonathan Pittal and Gabriel Boghossian, and has continued to focus on its growth, which included the addition of three further partners – Malcolm MacDougall, Adam Crossley and Richard Coleman – a year ago. Romer will work closely with the practice to provide comprehensive leveraged and acquisition finance capabilities to the firm’s private equity clients, as well as building the firm's lender side offering.

Stephenson Harwood's award winning international finance team acts for many leading UK and international banks, investment companies, other corporates, lessors, funds and other stakeholders on challenging transactions which often involve novel instruments or structures.