LENDING

Credit transactions are a core part of our firm's practice. Our clients include borrowers of all types as well as regional banks, community banks and finance companies, in all parts of the country. The transactions we handle include every sort of lending product offered by a financial institution, including:

• Bank credit facilities, both single lender and syndicated;
• Letter of credit and other credit enhancement transactions;
• Loan participation agreements; and
• Loan transactions secured by all types of collateral
• Responding to demand from both borrower and lender clients, Balch lending and credit lawyers offer experience in several specialized forms of lending transactions:

Real Estate Finance

Balch attorneys have extensive experience representing lenders and developers in construction and acquisition financing for real estate projects throughout the United States.

Fund Financing

Balch’s fund finance team has extensive experience in representing financial institutions, as well as funds and sponsors, in various fund finance transactions, ranging from large cross-border transactions to bilateral transactions with smaller commitments, covering various types of leveraged products, such as umbrella credit facilities, subscription and capital call facilities, NAV and hybrid facilities.  On the fund side, Balch attorneys have experience representing a variety of private equity, real estate, power and infrastructure funds.  We also work closely with local counsel in various foreign jurisdictions where fund finance practices are active.  

Tax Credit Projects

We represent lenders and borrowers in financing projects that qualify for the federal affordable housing and other federal and state tax credits. The documentation for these transactions requires particular knowledge of the operation of the tax programs and the process for obtaining and selling the tax credits for a project.

Asset Based Lending/Working Capital Finance

Our attorneys represent both lenders and borrowers in loan transactions that are secured primarily by accounts receivable (including healthcare receivables) and inventory of the borrowers. Such transactions require expertise in UCC Article 9 and other laws protecting lenders in secured transactions.

Consumer Lending

Our practice includes in-depth work for consumer lenders, including form development and review, coordination of multistate compliance efforts, and structuring of new products and programs.

Aircraft Finance

We regularly negotiate and document financing for aircraft and other specialized collateral and are familiar with the special FAA and Cape Town international treaty requirements for perfection of liens on aircraft.

Factoring

We regularly advise factors and their customers on the structure and documentation of factoring arrangements.

Consignment

Our clients regularly seek our counsel on protecting their interests in consigned inventory from competing claims.

Structured Finance

Attorneys in Balch's Lending and Credit practice represent clients in structuring, negotiating and closing structured finance transactions. "Structured finance" encompasses a wide variety of financial arrangements that serve to efficiently refinance and hedge loans that have already been originated. In these transactions, a pool of loans is converted into obligations backed by identified cash flows from the performance of the loans.

COMMERCIAL

Our commercial attorneys represent buyers and sellers, licenses and licensors, and lessees and lessors of goods and services of all kinds across a broad range of industries, advising on domestic and international trade, contract, letter of credit, Uniform Commercial Code, electronic signature, software and shipping issues.