Profile: Richard W Grice

Banking

Biography: Banking

Richard W Grice is co-leader of the global finance and debt products group at Alston & Bird. He emphasises representation of domestic and foreign commercial banks, underwriters and debt issuers in a variety of financings including recapitalisations, leveraged buyouts and other acquisition financings, public debt issues, private placements, cross-border financings and various asset-based financings. He also represents creditors and debtors in pre-bankruptcy restructurings and chapter 11 proceedings.

Recently, Mr Grice represented Movie Gallery Inc - the United States' third largest video rental company - in its US$1.195 billion debt financing for its successful all-cash acquisition of Hollywood Entertainment Corporation - the nation's second largest rental company. In this much-publicised transaction, Movie Gallery was able to finance the acquisition with a US$870 million senior bank credit facility and a US$325 million high-yield bond issue.

Internationally, he represented project sponsors in connection with the US$200 million project financing of mining operations in Brazil's Amazon Basin, coordinating complex debt and equity participations from US, French, German, Japanese and Brazilian investors, including significant Brazilian pre-export secured financings from Credit Lyonnais (New York and Paris offices), Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank AG (Munich office) and Sumitomo Corporation (New York and Tokyo offices). He has also represented a major Atlanta-based telecommunications company in numerous bank financings of Latin American properties.

Mr Grice received a JD from Cornell Law School in 1984, where he was senior editor of Cornell International Law Journal, and a BS from the University of Wisconsin in 1981, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa.