Stuart is a partner in the London corporate and leveraged finance team.
His expertise covers private equity-backed leveraged buyouts, management buyouts/buy-ins, public bids, M&A, recapitalisations, and distressed situations and soft restructurings. He advises UK and international sponsors, bidding consortia, and lenders, including credit and debt funds, on a broad range of domestic and cross‑border leveraged finance transactions. With deep knowledge of the full debt capital structure, he also regularly supports lenders, sponsors, and borrowers on distressed matters, including restructurings and enforcement strategies for businesses in default.
Stuart is ranked Band 1 by Chambers Global for Leveraged Finance: Mid Market, with client feedback noting that "he's a brilliant lawyer who keeps the deal process moving".
Stuart has been a significant influence in shaping the development of unitranche financing across European leveraged finance. He was one of the early practitioners to move from traditional bank advisory work into fund-focused mandates, a shift that helped broaden the market’s direction.
Alongside his advisory practice, Stuart is an active voice in discussions on mid‑market financing. He regularly comments on market movements and emerging trends, appearing on Ian King Live on Sky News and taking part in a number of podcast conversations. His insights are frequently referenced by Bloomberg, Debtwire, 9fin and other well‑known financial titles. He also provides background perspectives to journalists and publishes thought pieces on LinkedIn, in legal journals and in industry publications including IFLR.
Experience & capabilities
Selected matters
- Sullivan Street on the Financing of its acquisition of Senior Plc's aerostructures division*
- sponsors such as Keensight, Oakley and Vitruvian Partners (including recently on the debt financing of its acquisition of Great Railway Journeys)*
- Star Capital on the financing of its acquisitions of V-Group and STR*
- Epiris on the refinancing of its portfolio company, Pure Cremation*
- CPBE on the financing of its acquisition of Clifton Wealth Management*
- Star Capital on the refinancing of one of its portfolio companies (Hawksford)*
- as lender counsel on a US financing of Kobalt, a Francisco Partners portfolio company*
- Sullivan Street on the financing of its acquisition of Tracerco, a leading industrial technology firm providing detection, diagnostic and measurement solutions, from Johnson Matthey*
- a unitranche lender in taking ownership of a borrower group, including a restructure of the senior debt and a debt for equity swap*
- Permira Credit in relation to the refinancing of Netherlands-based medical device supplier Duomed, which included funding for its acquisition of the distribution activities of TSC Group in France and the Benelux*
- Five Arrows on a refinancing of a healthcare business based in Ireland and the Netherlands*
- EMK Capital and its Israeli-based portfolio company, Bright Data, on the refinancing of its existing debt facilities and a dividend recapitalisation*
- Francisco Partners in relation to the financing of its acquisition of Israeli-based MyHeritage, the leading global discovery platform for exploring family history*
- Francisco Partners in relation to the financing of its acquisition of German-based Native Instruments, a leading manufacturer of software and hardware for computer-based audio production, and US-based iZotope, a leading designer of software, hardware plug-ins, and mobile apps for the music industry*
*Indicates work done prior to joining the firm
Background
Stuart joined Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer in 2026.
Related insights
