Hannah Cunynghame

Full Profile

Hannah advises on complex banking and finance transactions across Africa, the Middle East and the UK, with a particular focus on cross-border financings, development finance, infrastructure finance and project finance. She acts for borrowers, lenders, corporates, sponsors and institutional clients on the structuring, negotiation and execution of financing transactions, including finance document review and negotiation, legal due diligence, condition precedent processes, financing readiness, bankability analysis and transaction management.

Hannah has particular experience on Africa-focused airport, port and infrastructure mandates, where she advises on financing structures, lender protections, risk allocation, security and support arrangements, termination compensation and bankability considerations. She works closely with Clyde & Co’s African and international offices to coordinate multi-jurisdictional advice and deliver practical, commercially focused solutions on complex cross-border finance matters.

Hannah holds an LLB from the University of Leeds, where she was awarded the DLA UK Prize for Law and Environment. She completed the Bar Professional Training Course in 2011 and was awarded the Middle Temple Blackstone Entrance Exhibition Scholarship. She subsequently completed the Legal Practice Course in 2018 and is an accredited mediator with the ADR Group. Prior to qualifying as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2021, Hannah held senior management roles with multinational retailers and trained at a leading US law firm.

Experience

• Advising Ethiopian Airlines Group as borrower on the USD 12.5 billion Bishoftu International Airport project in Ethiopia, with a focus on international project finance, financing readiness, bankability considerations, and the drafting and negotiation of facility, security and related finance documentation.
• Advising on port concession documentation for African transport infrastructure projects, including the proposed long-term concession for Terminals C and D at Apapa Multipurpose Terminal in Lagos, Nigeria, with a focus on bankability, lender protections, risk allocation, government support and termination compensation.
• Advising a multinational technology company on a USD 220 million cross-border financing, including borrower-side finance documentation, transaction management, conditions precedent and multi-jurisdictional coordination.
• Advising on the GBP 380 million refinancing of a landmark London real estate asset, including review and negotiation of finance documents, transaction management and execution.
• Advising a luxury restaurant group on a regional restructuring and multi-million-pound refinancing, including financing arrangements, security documentation, implementation steps and completion deliverables.
• Advising on a multi-million-pound venture debt financing for a high-growth technology company, including finance documentation, conditions precedent and completion mechanics.
• Advising on a GBP 22 million UK real estate portfolio financing involving a portfolio of show homes, including finance documentation, security arrangements, conditions precedent and completion deliverables.
• Advising on the amendment and restatement of a GBP 55 million facility agreement, including leading key aspects of the finance document review and negotiation, managing the conditions precedent process and supporting transaction execution through to completion.
• Leading day-to-day transaction management for a GBP 10 million financing for a London-based arts collective, including coordinating finance documentation, managing conditions precedent and overseeing completion mechanics.