Iain Wood
Partner
Areas of Focus
- Corporate
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Capital Markets
- Securities Enforcement & Litigation
- Investment Management
- Special Situations
- Technology
- Fund Formation
- Financial Restructuring
- Energy & Infrastructure
- Renewable Energy
- Geothermal
- Private Equity Transactions
- Private Equity
- Private Capital
- Renewables & Energy Transition
- A senior member of Akin’s integrated capital solutions and special situations teams, advising on high-stakes matters at the intersection of M&A, finance and restructuring.
- Represents asset managers and their portfolio companies in complex transactions typically arising from credit and hybrid investments and focusing on liability management, distressed M&A, in- and out-of-court restructurings, crisis management, and post-reorganized corporate governance and M&A.
- Represents creditor groups in both the broadly syndicated loan and private credit markets in cutting-edge bespoke special situations transactions.
Iain is a senior member of Akin’s globally integrated capital solutions and special situations teams. His practice sits at the intersection of M&A, finance and restructuring, focusing on the most challenging investments and transactions. Iain is regularly engaged where conventional structures do not adequately address risk allocation, governance or capital structure constraints, and he is known for developing bespoke and pragmatic transactional solutions tailored to unique fact patterns and stakeholder dynamics. He delivers creative capital solutions representing prominent companies and capital providers. Iain provides strategic counsel to some of the firm’s largest clients, including asset managers and their portfolio companies, on a wide range of capital deployment issues, including:
- Special situations and liability management transactions
- Out-of-court restructurings, whether in the broadly syndicated loan (BSL) market or the private credit market, including minority and change of control transactions, debt for equity exchanges and strict foreclosures
- Distressed M&A
- In-court restructurings
- Crisis management
- Post-reorganization corporate governance.
Special Situations & Liability Management Transactions
- Advised an ad hoc group of crossholders of RSA Security in a liability management transaction whereby holders of the company’s first lien and second lien term loans exchanged their debt at a discount into a new super senior facility.
- Advised an ad hoc group of lenders Newfold Digital in connection with a comprehensive refinancing of the company’s capital structure.
- Advised an ad hoc group of lenders in connection with a new financing and exchange transaction of Magenta Buyer LLC f/k/a McAfee Enterprises, Inc., a leading cybersecurity company, involving $8.6 billion in total debt and $400 million of new capital.
- Advised an ad hoc group of 2026 convertible noteholders in connection with an out-of-court restructuring for DISH Network Corporation, an American provider of satellite television, involving the exchange of approximately $5 billion of existing convertible notes and the issuance of $5 billion of new money secured notes.
Private Credit Restructurings
Iain represents many of the market’s leading private credit investors in restructurings, workouts and bespoke recapitalizations of non-sponsor, club-lender and single-lender portfolios. His practice spans the full lifecycle of a direct-lending investment—from early warning signals and covenant analysis through strategic amendments, governance transitions and complex out-of-court recapitalizations.
As a key member of Akin’s capital solutions team, Iain is acutely aware of the distinctions between liability-management dynamics in the BSL market and those in private credit. He understands that the relationship-driven nature of private credit requires a distinct toolkit—bespoke documentation, tailored cooperation frameworks, hybrid capital instruments and customized governance strategies—to protect value while preserving sponsor relationships and minimizing public exposure.
Drawing on this integrated approach, Iain advises on:
- Amend-and-extend and rescue financings, amendments and forbearances;
- Out-of-court exchanges, debt-for-equity and debt-for-debt swaps;
- Governance and control transitions, including “take-the-keys” and bridge-to-sale solutions;
- Lender-group coordination and cooperation agreements; and
- When necessary, Section 363 sales, DIP and exit financings, and post-reorg governance.
Through this work, Iain has become a trusted restructuring advisor to the private credit community, helping lenders balance recovery, reputational and relationship considerations while maintaining optionality across restructurings, recapitalizations and exits.
EducationJ.D., Vanderbilt University School of Law, 2006
B.A., Columbia University, 2003
J.D., Vanderbilt University School of Law, 2006
B.A., Columbia University, 2003
Bar AdmissionsDistrict of Columbia
Texas
District of Columbia
Texas
