David Brittenham is a corporate partner of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and member of the firm’s Finance Group.  He focuses his practice on complex leveraged and acquisition financings, such as the $15 billion acquisition of Hertz by The Carlyle Group, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Merrill Lynch Private Equity and the $5.9 billion acquisition of King Digital by Activision Blizzard.  Mr. Brittenham is ranked as a leading finance lawyer by Chambers Global (2017) and in Band 1 by Chambers USA (2017).  Mr. Brittenham is a contributing author of The Private Equity Primer: The Best of the Debevoise & Plimpton Private Equity Report and the Debevoise & Plimpton Private Equity Report and a regular co-author of articles covering a range of finance-related topics.  He has been a co-chair for PLI’s Leveraged Financing and Private Equity Acquisition Financing Summit programs since 2006.

Mr. Brittenham joined Debevoise in 1985 and became a partner in 1992. He received his B.A. from Cornell University in 1977 and his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law in 1984, where he was Articles Editor of the Columbia Law Review.  Prior to joining Debevoise, Mr. Brittenham served as a law clerk to the Hon. Jack B. Weinstein, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, from 1984 to 1985.

Patrick Ryan is the Head of the Firm’s Banking and Credit Practice. Patrick regularly represents leading financial institutions and investment banks in connection with the arrangement and syndication of senior credit facilities, including acquisition, bridge and other corporate financings. He has significant experience in complicated financings in the leveraged finance, investment-grade, and asset-based markets, often working with clients to develop innovative structures or to find solutions to difficult issues. He has also advised on the restructuring of existing credit facilities and other related financings, including DIP and exit financings.

Patrick’s financial institution and investment banking clients include JPMorgan, Barclays Capital, Deutsche, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Royal Bank of Canada, among others. Patrick also represents companies in connection with their financing activities, and his clients have included American Media, AOL, Bard, Cengage Learning, Evercore, Hulu, MasterCard, News Corporation, Radioshack, Sky Deutschland, Travelers Companies, 21st Century Fox and Universal Studios, among others. Patrick is also active in representing clients in sports and entertainment ventures, including the representation of Forest City Ratner Companies and other investors in connection with the acquisition and relocation of the Nets NBA franchise to Brooklyn.

Notable recent transactions include representing:

• JPMorgan and Barclays in connection with $7.2 billion of bridge financing for Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.’s acquisition of Patheon and $12.5 billion of bridge financing for its acquisition of Life Technologies Corporation
• JPMorgan in connection with $6 billion in senior credit facilities for Sprint Communications, Inc.
• JPMorgan in connection with $8.5 billion in committed bridge financing for Northrop Grumman Corporation related to its announced acquisition of Orbital ATK, Inc.
• JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs in connection with financing for Gartner Inc.’s $2.6 billion acquisition of CEB Inc.
• Twenty-First Century Fox in connection with £12.2 billion in committed bridge facilities to finance its acquisition of Sky plc, the U.K.-based media company
• JPMorgan in connection with $2 billion of financing for Genuine Parts Company’s acquisition of Alliance Automotive Group

Patrick is ranked among the leading banking and finance lawyers in the United States and the world by publications such as Chambers USA, Chambers Global, The Legal 500 United States, IFLR1000 and The Best Lawyers in New York.

Patrick received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Manhattan College in 1985 and his J.D., cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law in 1989. He spent a year at University of Dublin, Trinity College from 1985 to 1986.