DLA Piper has advised St James's Oncology SPC Ltd and it's investors, Civis (a Dalmore managed fund) and Aberdeen Asset Management, on the bond refinancing of the world-leading oncology centre at the St. James's University Teaching Hospital in Leeds, the largest teaching hospital in Europe.

The successful placement of both listed and private bonds was completed on 31st March and raised approximately £261 million. The proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt and to pay transaction and breakage costs. The benefits that result from the refinancing will be shared between the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and SPC shareholders, with the benefits being significantly for the Trust enabling it to make significant savings at a time when NHS finances remain stretched.

The Leeds project was one of only two PFI projects in the country that were originally financed through a Credit Guarantee Facility, with debt from the Department of Heath guaranteed by a commercial funder. The need to unwind this facility, along with the novel use of both listed and private bonds and the involvement of investors from the US, made this a particularly complex transaction.

The DLA Piper team was led by  DLA Piper Finance partner, Ronan Mellon, who said: "With only 12 weeks from our initial kick-off meeting to the placing of the both the listed and private bonds the team had to work to a very tight time-frame. Meeting the deadline set for us was of vital importance to the Trust, which needed to be able to recognise the benefits arising from the refinancing in the current financial year. We are delighted that we were able to deliver."

Other aspects of the transaction were led by partners Nick Helm (Infrastructure) and Sarah Day (Finance). The full DLA Piper team also included legal directors Stephen Johns, Laura Gordon and Joywin Mathew, and associates Lorna Pattison, Abigail Mathews and Mike Ford.