Pinsent Masons has advised HSBC Bank Plc and Lloyds Bank Plc as joint lead bookrunners, and HM Treasury as guarantor on a £231 million bond issue to assist the University of Northampton with its waterside campus development.

The bond, together with an additional lending package of £60m from the Public Works Loan Board, were the first to be guaranteed by the UK Government in the education sector, under the Infrastructure UK guarantee scheme.

The Pinsent Masons team advising on the deal was led Edward Sunderland, Stephen Tobin, Samantha Rollason and Michael Watson, assisted by Apicksha Patel, Pippa Whitmore, Joanna Bell and Stephen Franklin.  Tax advice was provided by partner Eloise Walker and Jeremy Reynolds.

Commenting on the deal Edward Sunderland said: "We were delighted to work on this ground breaking transaction in this sector.  Our combined expertise in the fields of debt capital markets, project finance and universities ensure that we were best placed to assist our clients in delivering the project for the University."