Matthew Edward Schernecke

Matthew advises clients of all kinds on the financing aspects of sustainable investments with a broader social impact. He has broad knowledge and experience structuring and negotiating loan documents to embed and track social impact through ESG-oriented covenants and impact investment financing transactions.

Matthew serves as the New York office local practice group leader for the finance practice. He also serves as a leading member of the Morgan Lewis CARES Act Loan Program Task Force, working with this cross-practice team, composed of 40-plus lawyers, to advise hundreds of clients and colleagues on all aspects of COVID-19-related federal loan programs, namely the Main Street Lending Program, on which Matthew co-authored market-leading publications, and the Paycheck Protection Program. Matt has also been sought after by top-tier organizations to speak on market practice during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) and the American Bar Association (ABA).

Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Matthew served as a law clerk to Federal Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Lender Representations

• Willow Tree Credit Partners on the initial closing of Willow Tree Fund I, its initial private equity fund targeting $650 million in aggregate capital commitments
• Administrative and collateral agent in a $145 million secured term loan facility and a $25 million secured revolving credit facility in support of the acquisition of a national metals manufacturer, producer, and distributer of custom aluminum extrusions by affiliates of Monomoy Capital Partners LP
• Churchill Asset Management as sole lead arranger in a $155 million senior secured credit facility to support the acquisition of Impact Fitness North America, LP by investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners
• Prospect Capital Corporation as agent and lender in a $122 million senior secured second lien term loan credit facility provided to a logistics management company as well as a substantial add-on acquisition financing
• Churchill Asset Management as administrative agent and sole lead arranger in a $90 million senior secured credit facility to support the acquisition of eMids by New Mountain Capital
• Willow Tree Credit Partners in a secured $75 million, seven-year holding company-level term loan to support the recapitalization of Santek Development Inc.
• Prospect Capital Corporation as agent and lender in a $70 million senior secured mezzanine-level term loan credit facility provided to a digital cinema projection company
• Ares Capital Corporation as lender and agent in a recapitalization transaction that provided a $40 million senior secured term loan, as well as a $15 million senior secured delayed draw term loan and a $5 million senior secured working capital revolving line of credit to NueHealth Performance, LLC
• Willow Tree Credit Partners in closing a $15 million term loan facility and a $15.5 million delayed draw term loan facility to support the recapitalization of American Veterinary Group Holdings LLC and fund its acquisitions of veterinary practices
• Prospect Capital Corporation as lender and agent in a recapitalization transaction that provided Luminex Home Décor & Fragrance Company, LLC with a $25 million senior secured term loan, including Term Loan A and Term Loan B senior secured notes
• Prospect Capital Corporation as agent and lender in a $17 million senior secured second lien term loan credit facility provided to an unclaimed property recovery company and subsequent add-on acquisition financing matters
• Breakwater Credit Opportunities Fund, L.P. and various affiliates in a $17 million loan, workout and restructuring of Loot Crate, Inc.

Borrower-Side Representations

• Dr. Pepper Snapple Group in its merger with Keurig Green Mountain, as the two companies combine to create Keurig Dr. Pepper, a new beverage giant projected to have an enterprise value of more than $40 billion 
• Interactive Data Corporation in its acquisition by Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus for $3.4 billion
• Kyo-Ya Hotels & Resorts, LP in connection with a mortgage and asset-based dual loan facility, secured by five of the borrower’s premier resort properties, in the aggregate principal amount of $1.725 billion (denominated in both US Dollars and Japanese Yen), agented by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
• Harron Communications LP in a $1.4 billion sale of cable systems operating under the MetroCast brand name to Atlantic Broadband
• Liberty Property Trust in its $1.475 billion acquisition and financing of Cabot Industrial Value Fund III
• Asahi Kasei Corp. in its acquisition and financing of Veloxis Pharmaceuticals A/S through an all-cash conditional voluntary public offer valuing the company at approximately $1.3 billion
• Apollo Global Management LLC in its $1.1 billion definitive agreement and plan of merger with certain investment funds managed by affiliates of Apollo and Smart & Final Stores Inc., a value-oriented food retailer headquartered in Commerce, California
• BP Products North America Inc. in the financing in connection with its joint acquisition with ArcLight Capital Partners LLC of all of the outstanding shares of Thorntons Inc. in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.1 billion
• Apollo Management in the disposition of Smart & Final Holdings Corp. to affiliates of Ares Management LLC for $975 million
• Rexnord Corporation in a $708 million senior secured first lien term loan facility and a $198 million senior secured first lien revolving facility in connection with its merger with Regal Beloit Corporation
• Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc. in the financing aspects of its $340 million agreement to acquire a 65.1% majority interest in federal healthcare company AvKARE and its related affiliate doing business as R&S Northeast
• Freeman Spogli & Co. in the acquisition of Batteries Plus Holding Corp. from Roark Capital Group. The financing, led by Golub Capital and Antares Capital, was composed of $280 million senior secured term and revolving facilities
• SLT Lending SPV Inc., a subsidiary of a joint venture between Marquee Brands and CSC Generation, as borrower in a $35 million senior secured revolving, exit credit facility provided by
• Second Avenue Capital Partners LLC, as agent, in support of the borrower’s acquisition of Sur La Table
• Sun Capital Partners in its acquisition of Friendly Ice Cream Corporation and its subsequent acquisition of the assets of such entity in a Section 363 sale