NEWS

Paul Hastings Accelerates Lateral Hiring Hot Streak with Addition of Leading Capital Markets and Fintech Partner Christopher Austin

March 02, 2020

New York – Paul Hastings, a leading global law firm, announced today that preeminent capital markets and Fintech lawyer Christopher Austin has joined the firm as a partner, based in New York. His arrival adds to the reputation and skill-set of the firm’s top-ranked Fintech and Payments practice, which received the highest ranking (band 1) in Chambers Fintech 2020, a comprehensive guide to the leading Fintech professionals around the world. Austin’s hire continues the strong flow of new corporate partner additions in the London, New York and Bay Area offices of Paul Hastings.

“Adding outstanding talent like Chris to our team has helped us build market-leading Capital Markets and Fintech practices that span our global network,” said Seth Zachary, chairman of Paul Hastings.

“Paul Hastings has an amazing story of growth powered by innovation and collaboration,” said Austin. “Both Paul Hastings’ Fintech and Payments and Securities and Capital Markets practices have been adding outstanding practitioners. This is a destination firm for emerging Fintech and financial services companies, who are remaking their businesses through financial technology, presenting an immediate opportunity to grow my practice.”

Austin focuses his practice on transactional and securities laws matters, including advising on formation, venture financings, IPOs and mergers and acquisitions.  Austin is recognized by Chambers and Partners as a top lawyer (band 1) for “Fintech Legal: Securities & Capital Markets.” He is at the forefront of the growing intersection between Fintech and global capital markets, advising companies and leading investment banks, including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Morgan Stanley, in connection with IPOs and follow-on offerings for fintech, technology, life sciences, and other growth sectors.

Austin’s arrival continues Paul Hastings’ strong lateral growth over the past year, including the addition of Capital Markets and Leveraged Finance partner Frank Lopez and Derivatives partner Joyce Xu in New York; Private Equity partners Ed Harris and Leanne Moezi and M&A partner Steven Bryan in London; Private Equity partner Alex Kaufman and M&A partners Bill Choe and Jason Rabitt-Tomita in Palo Alto; Capital Markets partner Jonathan Ko in Los Angeles; M&A partner Jonathan Kellner and Capital Markets partner David Flechner in São Paulo; Private Equity partner Charles Cardon, Global Trade managing director Nicola Bonucci, and Tax partner Bruno Leroy in Paris; Capital Markets partner Chaobo Fan and Investigations and White Collar Defense partner Shaun Wu in Hong Kong; Corporate partners Ned Crady and David Peterman in Houston; and Private Equity partner Adam Brown and Investigations and White Collar Defense partners Matt Herrington, Tom Best and Jonathan Drimmer in Washington, D.C.

Paul Hastings’ Fintech and Payments practice is a recognized advisor to both industry leaders and innovative start-ups alike, and is sought out to assist with major mandates such as advising Samsung on the launch of Samsung Pay; the carve-out of Sage Payment Systems from Sage Software (a UK company) and its acquisition by GTCR (a U.S. private equity firm); the global launch of a stablecoin by Gemini; the launch of U.S. Dollar Coin, a stablecoin offered by Coinbase and Circle; a $125 million debt financing for Earnin, a mobile software company; and the global launch of a Fintech platform for the world’s largest automotive manufacturer.

The global Capital Markets practice at Paul Hastings has advised on several landmark transactions in recent years, including US$5.5 billion of high yield notes issued in connection with Altice USA, Inc.’s combination of Suddenlink and Optimum; US$1 billion aggregate principal amount of senior notes by Laredo Petroleum; represented RBC Capital Markets in the debut high yield notes issuance by Allen Media; a US$1 billion senior bond issued by CSC Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Altice USA; Minera Mexico’s US$1 billion senior notes offering; and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s US$750 million issuance of guaranteed senior notes; PagSeguro’s US$653 million follow-on offering; Pershing Square Holdings’ US$400 million 144A bond offering; Mohawk Group Holdings, Inc.’s  IPO on the Nasdaq Capital Market; a follow-on public offering for Sun Communities, Inc., raising proceeds of over $450 million; Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s follow-on public offering of class A common stock; filing a prospectus supplement to Lexington Realty Trust’s S-3 Registration Statement for a US$300 million at-the-market offering of common stock, adding a forward mechanism; a US$6.7 million registered direct offering of common stock and warrants for Seelos Therapeutics, Inc.; an add-on notes offering by Five Point Operating Company and Five Point Capital Corp for its US$125 million senior notes; and Ascletis Pharma’s US$400 million IPO – the first listing under Chapter 18A of the listing rules in Hong Kong.

At Paul Hastings, our purpose is clear — to help our clients and people navigate new paths to growth. With a strong presence throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the U.S., Paul Hastings is recognized as one of the world’s most innovative global law firms.