Practice Areas
Corporate & Finance
B. Levinbook & Co. supports its clients in a variety of corporate and financing transactions in cooperation with E. Schaffer and Co. , led by Adv. Ehud (Udi) Schaffer, who has many years of experience in the field, both in Israel and New York. After collaborating for many years in a variety of fields, our two firms merged our corporate and finance law activities in 2015 and have since expanded our services in this field, which are now well-integrated with other relevant areas of our practice.
Through this collaboration, we offer many different services in the financing field in general, particularly bank financing. This includes advising lead agents on syndicated loans, consulting for domestic and foreign banks and financial institutions on complex financing transactions, inter-creditor agreements, and debt and collateral settlement and assignment transactions. Our corporate and finance practice draws on extensive experience in banking and commercial litigation, and thorough, in-depth understanding of banking and bankruptcy law and regulation.
Beyond our expertise in bank financing, B. Levinbook & Co. cooperates with E. Schaffer & Co. to provide a spectrum of services related to commercial and corporate law and securities law and regulation. We provide ongoing legal support to private and public companies and advise local and foreign corporations with regard to their business activities in Israel in a range of fields (such as banking, capital markets, hi-tech, SaaS – Software as a Service, venture capital, electronics, infrastructure, sports, fashion, and food), complex investment and financing transactions, cross-border mergers and acquisitions and regulatory affairs.
Our activities in the field of corporations and financing, in general, and more specifically in the field of bank financing, operate in tandem with our range of other services. This means that our clients, which include Israel’s major banks and both local and overseas financial institutions, benefit from comprehensive, professional legal services in litigation and dispute resolution as well as in commercial law, all under one roof.
Adv. Ehud (Udi) Schaffer, founding partner of E. Schaffer & Co. received his LL.B from Tel Aviv University (1995) and his LL.M Banking, Corporate & Finance Law from Fordham University, New York (Cum Laude, 1998). He is a member of the Loan Syndications & Trading Association and a member of both Israel and New York Bar Associations.
Udi began his professional career at B. Levinbook & Co. in 1994. In his many years of activity in Israel and the US, Udi has broadened his experience and expertise, amassing a broad professional knowledge base in corporate and commercial law in general, and in banking law and regulation, complex financing transactions, secured lending and loan syndication and trading in particular.
In 1998 he joined the Banking Department of White & Case LLP in New York, one of the world’s leading banking law firms, where he practiced law for several years and gained extensive experience representing commercial and investment banks in the US and Europe, as lead agent in various financing transactions. His work with the firm included representation of underwriters – commercial banks and investment banks from the US and Europe, including Citibank, Deutsche Bank and others – in a range of financing transactions of leveraged buyouts (LBOs) in various industries, including communication and telephony, media, heavy industry and more. He also represented underwriters, investors and companies in investment transactions, securitization, and in private placements and public offerings.
In 2002, Udi joined Erdinast, Ben Nathan & Co., and in 2004 become a partner at the firm. In this capacity, Udi advised entrepreneurs, startups, and private and public corporations from Israel and overseas on complex loan transactions, financing and capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, and securities law. Among the transactions he handled were representation of the lenders in the financing of the acquisition of one of the largest public holding companies in Israel; the sale of three new pension funds by longstanding pension funds in administration, at an overall amount of more than one billion shekels; founder agreements and the organization of corporations; complex outsourcing agreements; and M&A and investment transactions in companies within various fields.
In 2006, Udi founded the law firm E. Schaffer & Co., which worked in collaboration with B. Levinbook & Co. Within this framework, Udi led, among other projects, a complex debt assignment transaction between a leading Israeli bank and one of the largest banks in the world, which included partial assignment of debt and collateral in various countries. The transaction was conducted in the LSTA format and included complex arrangements for assigning the debt and the collateral and formalization of the relationship between various lenders. He also represented investors and corporations in connection with investment transactions, international mergers and acquisitions, and provided ongoing advice to domestic and overseas clients, including private and public companies, banks, financial institutions, pension funds and others.