Ashurst banking partner Laura Ho has not let a difficult year for M&A and debt markets stop her from rising to the challenge and getting creative about winning mandates. Hailed by her peers as a prodigy in the infrastructure finance and leveraged finance mid-market, 2023 saw Ho at the top of her game acting on volumes of work for sponsor and lender-side clients.
Since joining the firm as a senior associate from A&L Goodbody in 2011, making partner in 2018, Ho has solidified relationships with several bank clubs and credit funders such as ICG, BlackRock, and CVC. This year put Ho at the forefront of a range of major transactions including a £1bn underwrite for the consortium acquisition of Fjord, the UK’s first major trust refinancing with a green energy and smart logistics focus for the Port of Tyne, and ICG’s acquisition of Direct Ferries.
With a business-builder’s mindset, Ho’s ambitions for the year ahead are to keep up the momentum of both practices by further expanding her teams with junior partners and accomplished senior associates within Ashurst – a strategy focused on developing the next generation of partners that also gives this Hottie work at a well-earned more comfortable pace.