Draper

Thomas Draper

Partner
Co-Chair, Debt Finance Practice
Boston

I enjoy drawing on my long experience and collaborative approach between lenders and borrowers to help clients obtain the debt financing facility that best meets their needs.

Tom Draper has long been recognized as one of the leading debt finance lawyers in the US and has helped clients successfully achieve a range of debt financing solutions. Tom represents a number of companies and private funds in acquisition, fund and project financing transactions, including asset-based credits, large syndicated term loans and fund capital call and portfolio leverage facilities. Tom serves as Co-Chair of the Debt Finance Practice at the firm.

Tom’s debt financing expertise is extensive. He has recently assisted public companies with high yield bond offerings, private equity sponsors in acquisition financings, direct lenders with special situation loans, cannabis businesses with growth and acquisition financing and solar companies and lenders with construction and term debt facilities.

In the fund borrower area, Tom is a national leader. He has written numerous articles, spoken on several industry panels and worked on hundreds of capital call facilities, portfolio leverage and liquidity financings for private and registered funds.

Prior to joining Foley Hoag, Tom was a partner at a global law firm headquartered in Boston, where he was the long-time head of its Finance Group.

Education

  • University of Texas School of Law, J.D., Vice Grand Chancellor: Texas Law Review
  • Yale University, B.A.

Bar and Court Admissions

BAR ADMISSIONS
  • Massachusetts

Experience

  • Metropolitan Partners Group, in a senior secured credit facility to the operator of multi-location, multi-specialty ambulatory surgical centers across New York and New Jersey
  • Pacific General in connection with a strategic investment in Old World Provisions, Inc. and the formation of a consortium with S Food Inc., a leading South Korean food manufacturer focused on value-added meat products and high-quality food ingredients
  • Lantheus Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LNTH), a company focused on developing innovative imaging diagnostics, targeted therapeutics and artificial intelligence solutions to find, fight and follow serious medical conditions, in a Rule 144A offering of $575 million aggregate principal amount of its 2.625% convertible senior notes due 2027
  • Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc., a leading multi-state, vertically integrated cannabis operator
    • in closing on a $50 million private placement of senior secured notes, issued at 97.5% of face value, and a supplemental part of a $235 million debt offering commenced in July and carry an interest rate of 12.75%
    • in closing on a $210 million Senior Secured Term Loan with Seaport Global Securities LLC as lead manager for a syndicate of lenders
  • Pear Therapeutics, Inc., a pioneer of prescription digital therapeutics, in closing a $50 million secured loan transaction with Perceptive Advisors
  • A large West Coast private equity sponsor in a series of credit facilities for a company that provides customer-selected music in public settings
  • Middle-market private equity sponsor in financing a series of acquisitions of developing companies
  • Biogen Inc. in several public notes offerings
    A large direct lending fund sponsor in dozens of capital call facilities for hundreds of millions of dollars
  • A pharmaceutical company in connection with a $150 million royalty notes financing
  • A debt origination fund in a securitized underwritten notes offering secured by a portfolio of health care loans

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
  • Clerk to the Honorable Homer Thornberry, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Other Publications

  • “Unsecured Capital Call Subscription Facilities? The SBIC Experience,” Global Legal Insights – Fund Finance Laws and Regulations 2019 (with Robert Sawyer, March 2019) 
  • “Credit Facilities for Registered Investment Funds,” ICLG, Public Investment Funds 2018, 1st Edition (with Alyson Gal, April 2018)
  • “Investor Views of Fund Subscription Lines: The ILPA Guidelines and the Market Response,” Global Legal Insights – Fund Finance, 2nd Edition (with Patricia Lynch, February 2018)
  • “Capital Call Subscription Facilities: The Borrower’s View,” Global Legal Insights - Fund Finance 2017 (with Patricia Lynch and Dan Coyne, February 2017)

Honors & Involvement

HONORS
  • Best Lawyers
    • Banking and Finance Law (2006-2027)
    • Lawyer of the Year - Banking and Finance Law, Boston (2023)
  • IFLR1000
    • Highly Regarded (2021-2022)
    • Notable Practitioner (2015-2019)
  • Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business (2009-2018)
  • Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business (2005-2026)
  • Who’s Who Legal International: Leading Banking Lawyer (2013)
  • PLC Which Lawyer? (2011)
  • The Legal 500 (2011)
  • Texas Law Review (1979)
INVOLVEMENT
  • Instructor in “Commercial Lending” at Boston University School of Law
  • Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, past president
  • Handel & Haydn Society, board of advisors
  • Belmont Day School, past trustee 
  • Dublin Lake Club, vice president

Other Events

  • Moderator, “Credit and Evolving Fund Finance Spectrum,” 6th Annual Global Fund Finance Symposium (March  2016)
  • Speaker, “What’s New in Fund Finance?,” 7th Annual Global Fund Finance Symposium (March 2017)
  • Speaker, “Subscription and Hybrid Financing,” Maples Investment Funds Forum (February 2018)
  • Frequent speaker on debt financing topics for continuing education panels