Clifford Chance advises BlackRock on US$300 million financing

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised certain funds and accounts managed by BlackRock Financial Management Inc. (BlackRock), its affiliates and co-investors on a US$300 million senior secured term loan to Root, Inc., a publicly listed automobile insurance-tech company.

The five-year, US$300 million facility accrues interest utilizing the secured overnight financing rate (SOFR). As part of the closing, the lenders received warrants convertible into Root’s common stock, which expire at maturity or repayment of the loan.

A cross-disciplinary team at Clifford Chance advised BlackRock on the finance, insurance, tax and equity aspects of the transaction.

Lead partner Andrew Young commented, “We were pleased to support our longtime client BlackRock on a deal that spanned across multiple practice areas and regulatory regimes to facilitate a term loan with enormous complexities.”

The team of Clifford Chance lawyers supporting Young included partners Gary Boss, Analisa Dillingham, and Avrohom Gelber; counsel Jason W. Parsont and Matthew Warner; associates Peter Guinnane, Rebecca Isaacs, Allison Kelly, Benjamin Lee and Xiaowen Zou; and law clerk Dennis Morrisroe.

Clifford Chance advises on many landmark multidisciplinary and multijurisdictional transactions. The firm recently advised Informa on the sale of its asset intelligence business to Aurora-backed Randall-Reilly as well as alterDomus on its strategic acquisition of technology provider Investors Economic Assurance.