Melinda Perera

Melinda joined Linklaters Luxembourg in 2003, was promoted to Partner in 2017 and since May 2022, has been appointed as head of the Capital Markets and Banking practice of Linklaters Luxembourg.

Melinda specialises in capital markets (debt instruments and securitisation notably), finance and restructuring matters. Melinda’s banking practice includes advising on fund financing, syndicated lending, investment grade, margin loan and leveraged acquisition finance, asset finance, real estate finance and distressed debt acquisitions. 

She has special expertise in restructuring and insolvency and has played a major role in complex cross border restructurings, special situations and insolvency matters, offering technical expertise, commercial judgment and strategic advice to help clients achieve practical outcomes. She has experience of advising on multi-disciplinary and cross-border real estate finance transactions in the most demanding circumstances.

Work highlights

Melinda’s experience include:

• A global paper manufacturer: advising on the implementation of a comprehensive refinancing package, which included the provision of c. €90m of new money under a new money facility in the form of tradeable notes.
• Naviera Armas Group: advising a leading passenger and freight operator on a complex, cross-border restructuring in a distressed scenario, one of the first to make use of the new Spanish restructuring framework established in September 2022.
• Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: advising an international banking group on the issue of €1.5bn 0.0% Sustainability Bonds due 2032. This is the first sovereign sustainability issue in Europe.
• Since 2019, the Luxembourg Capital Markets practice group has been supporting the Europe Union’s historic recovery programme. We are working on issuances which helps them to finance European efforts on ESG. We have notably advised CACIB on the update of the programme which incorporated the unprecedented EU's €750 billion recovery instrument, Next Generation EU, which aims to build a greener, more digital and more resilient future while supporting Member States in repairing their economies.
• Rebecca BidCo Sàrl: advising Kroll Agency Services Limited as lender on the Margin loan for the subsidiary of Triton funds, over shares in RENK Group AG. 

Having been actively involved in the charity world before becoming a lawyer, Melinda takes a leading role in the firm’s community investment programme in Luxembourg, which supports and promotes local and international charities initiatives. Below are some examples of the firm’s community engagement in which Melinda has been closely involved:

• Melinda is co-chair of the group that coordinates the firm’s partnership with local charities, such as Médecins du Monde, which provides healthcare to the most vulnerable in society, including refugees
• Together with other lawyers of the Luxembourg office, Melinda contributed to the Women, Business and the Law report, a publication of the World Bank Group that benchmarks laws and regulations influencing women’s capacity to participate in the workforce and start businesses
• Melinda was involved in the survey by Equality Now, an international human rights organisation working to protect the rights of women and girls around the world

Melinda’s published works include:

Women, Business and the Law, 2016

• Mixed fortunes for the Luxembourg subsidiaries of Landsbanki, Glitnir and Kaupthing, 2010
• Looking for a safe investment? Think about Lettres de Gage (Luxembourg For Finance N°1, 2009)

Melinda studied law at the University of Strasbourg and was a PhD student in constitutional law.

In the context of her PhD studies, Melinda obtained a scholarship for a Fulbright Seminar, which was conducted at Lafayette College.