practice areas
bar admissions
- New York
- New York
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101 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10178-0060
Phone: 212.309.6870
Fax: 212.309.6001
Richard S. Petretti is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Finance Practice. Mr. Petretti's practice focuses on banking, finance, and securities regulation law, including representing banks in secured and unsecured lending, loan workouts, debt restructurings, entertainment financings, and corporate trust matters.
Mr. Petretti has a broad corporate practice focused on representation of both major financial institutions and borrowers, particularly in highly leveraged transactions, including structuring, negotiating, documenting, and working out domestic and cross-border loans to fund tender offers, mergers, acquisitions, and recapitalizations, with industry experience in the entertainment, media, telecommunications (including undersea cable and satellite), transportation, auto, healthcare, retailing, real estate, and hospitality sectors, among others. Transactions often involve complex intercreditor issues or taking guaranties and security interests in the UK and other countries.
Film and television transactions are particular areas of concentration in which Mr. Petretti has been active throughout his career. He regularly handles a wide variety of production and P&A financings ranging from single-picture negative pick-ups to multi-picture co-production deals; secured and unsecured credit facilities for independent motion picture companies, mini-majors, special purpose entities, and studio joint ventures; and acquisitions and sales of motion picture producers and libraries.
Mr. Petretti is also frequently consulted regarding UCC issues and serves on the Firm's Opinion Committee.
Mr. Petretti is admitted to practice in New York.
Selected Representations
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Counsel to JPMorgan as administrative agent in a $650 million amend and extend of a syndicated secured revolving credit facility for entertainment company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
- Counsel to JPMorgan as agent in a five-year, $800 million syndicated secured revolving credit facility for Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
- Counsel to a privately held polymer producer, as borrower in connection with a $550 million syndicated secured Term Loan B and related amendments to an ABL Credit Facility to fund a leveraged recapitalization.
- Counsel to JPMorgan as administrative agent in a $700 million syndicated secured credit facility for Legendary Pictures, the company that has teamed with Warner Bros. on a string of major motion pictures, including Inception, The Dark Knight, and The Hangover Part II. The new credit facility will be used to finance movie production and to refinance other debt.
- Counsel to JPMorgan as agent in a syndicated secured add-on credit facility to finance Shine Limited's $88 million acquisition of Metronome Film & Television AB. The financing required taking guaranties and security in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, England, and the United States.
- Counsel to a money center bank, as agent, in connection with the workout of a troubled $280 million syndicated construction loan for a Florida condominium project.
- Counsel to a money center bank, as agent, in connection with bankruptcy planning and possible debtor-in-possession financing for a publicly traded auto parts supplier.
- Counsel to Mervyn's in connection with its debtor-in-possession credit facility and related matters.
- Counsel to Apollo Management, L.P. and one of its affiliates in connection with the issuance of $250 million of Senior Fixed Rate Notes, $350 million of Senior Toggle Notes, and $335 million of Senior Subordinated Notes, and a $1.65 billion syndicated secured term loan and revolving credit facility in connection with the acquisition of Claire's Stores, Inc.
- Counsel to JPMorgan and Citicorp USA, Inc. as agents in a $3 billion syndicated secured credit facility to finance the exit from bankruptcy of United Air Lines, Inc.
- Counsel to Credit Lyonnais as agent in a $75 million project loan to an affiliate of General Communication, Inc. to finance the construction of a fiber optic telecommunications system linking Seattle, Washington; Fairbanks, Alaska; Anchorage, Alaska; and Juneau, Alaska.
- Counsel to one of the lead investors in connection with the workout and eventual bankruptcy of a stand-alone oil refinery.
education
- New York University School of Law, 1980, J.D. (Law)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1977, S.M. (Ocean Engineering)
- Princeton University, 1976, B.S.E. (Aerospace & Mechanical Sciences)