Katrina Groark

Expertise

Katrina acts on a full range of banking and corporate finance related matters including leverage and acquisition finance transactions, real estate finance, general corporate lending and restructuring, and has asset finance and Islamic finance experience.

Katrina’s clients include corporate borrowers, banks, private equity sponsors and specialist debt funds. She has acted and advised on a broad range of bilateral and syndicated financings for borrowers, lenders and other investors on domestic and multi-jurisdictional matters, across a number of sectors, and is regularly involved in real estate development and investment finance and lending to SMEs.

Katrina balances technical expertise with pragmatism and commercial advice, providing a solution-based approach to progress transactions.

How do you help clients?

I help manage risk allocation on finance transactions – whether from a funder’s perspective as to minimising credit return risks or from a borrower’s perspective as to its freedom to operate its business so as to maximise its opportunities for performance and growth.

Though engaged for my legal expertise, I look to enhance the value to clients with a pragmatic and commercial, solution-based approach to the advice provided and suggested courses of action throughout the drafting and negotiation process.

Experience

1. Acting for Palatine Private Equity’s Impact Fund on the financing aspects of its acquisition of waste management and recycling services specialist Roydon Recycling.
2. Advising SME Capital on its backing of the management buy-out of HRSRail, a leading independent building and civil contractor in the rail industry (Won Deal of the Year (sub £10m) at the Insider South-East Dealmakers Awards 2024).
3. Advising Trafford Council and Bruntwood Works in respect of the £50m redevelopment financing for the regeneration of Stretford Mall and Altrincham's Stamford Quarter Shopping Centre and Clarendon House.
4. Advising the agent and security agent (both UK clearing bank entities) in respect of a secured syndicated accordion funding to a technology company (circa £200,000,000 debt total).
5. Acting for IEF Group Limited (backed by LDC) on the financing aspects of its acquisition of Agile Applications Group Limited to complement its business function in respect of SaaS provided to UK local authorities.