Christopher M.

Wappel

Position: Partner
Office: New Orleans

Christopher Wappel is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group. He focuses on commercial lending and finance.

Christopher has practiced law since 1999. He represents borrowers, agents, and lenders in structuring, negotiating, and documenting senior and subordinated, secured and unsecured, and bilateral and syndicated credit facilities, including acquisition, asset-based, oil and gas, real estate, receivables, vessel, and working capital financings.

Christopher also has significant experience in public finance, often serving as bond counsel for the issuance of tax-exempt bonds, including the Gulf Opportunity Zone (GO Zone) bonds. He has served as bank, issuer's, trustee's, and underwriter's counsel for numerous tax-exempt bond offerings and has advised clients on economic development issues and incentives, particularly involving the New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) program.

Christopher plays a primary role in the firm’s legal opinion practice and has extensive experience providing commercial finance, debt and equity securities offerings, non-consolidation, and true sale legal opinions.

Noteworthy

Experience

Represented the administrative and collateral agent in a New York law-governed $550 million all assets secured revolving credit facility with intercreditor agreement for $500 million in secured senior notes
Advised administrative agents and lenders on revolving and term loan facilities ranging from $20 to $275 million secured by vessel collateral
Represented a bank in working capital and acquisition loans to a telecommunications company totaling $24 million
Counseled an investment-grade public company concerning a New York law-governed $2 billion revolving credit facility and $440 million term loan facility
Handled debt due diligence and worked on New York law-governed acquisition financing for an investment-grade public company’s $11.6 and $22 billion acquisitions
Advised a global facilities agent on Louisiana law matters in connection with $1.1 billion construction facilities for chemical plants
Represented a professional sports team as borrower in negotiations and closing of transactions, which included term note issuances under league-wide facility
Represented a bank in loans to a hotel developer in connection with New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) financing
Served as bank counsel for 10 taxable and tax-exempt bond issuances secured by letters of credit and confirming letters of credit
Represented banks in the purchase of $9.2 and $19.1 million of taxable and tax-exempt bonds in private placements
Served as bond counsel in taxable and tax-exempt bond financings secured by movie theatres properties aggregating $49.7 million
Acted as underwriter’s counsel in connection with $39 and $195 million refunding revenue bond issuances for municipal entities
Documented, in capacity as bond counsel, a $1 billion Gulf Opportunity Zone (GO Zone) bond issuance