Restructuring & Insolvency

Our multi-jurisdictional financial restructuring team has extensive experience of financial restructurings and working with clients in other scenarios that require bespoke approaches. To deliver tailored solutions to clients’ problems, we act for stakeholders at all levels of the capital structure and across a broad range of industries where financial distress or other challenges are encountered: banks, financial institutions, trade creditors, debtors, directors, sponsors and shareholders, agents and trustees, insolvency officeholders and pension funds.  

We act across the full spectrum of financial distress and advise on:

• Out of court financial restructurings involving waivers, standstills, the use of a moratorium, emergency liquidity, stressed refinancings, restatements of existing facilities, restructuring implementation agreements, new money advances, and debt to equity swaps;
• In court financial restructurings involving company voluntary arrangements, schemes of arrangement or restructuring plans;
• Contingency planning, insolvency options and the application for and use of formal insolvency proceedings (often as a tool to deliver a restructuring solution); and
• Distressed sales and acquisitions (both within and outside of insolvency processes).

Our notable recent cases include: 

• Advising Finance & Risk Services Limited, the Bermudian provisional liquidator of Noble Group Limited, on the liquidation process used to implement a $3.5bn restructuring.
• Advising Greensill Bank AG's insolvency administrator on the restructuring/recovery of the bank's lending exposure, in excess of US$3bn, to various companies in the Gupta Family Group Alliance, including on the discounted restructuring plan proposed by Specialty Steel UK Ltd and the placing of that entity into a government-funded liquidation.
• Acting for Greensill Bank AG’s insolvency administrator on the Singapore law aspects relating to Gupta Family Group Alliance (GFG)'s Singapore company holding structure; the scheme moratorium application by a GFG Singapore unit and judicial management application by ArcelorMittal, another major creditor of GFG; and advising GB in respect of the c.EUR 140 million freezing order obtained by ArcelorMittal in Singapore to enforce an arbitration award obtained in London and freezing injunction against certain Singapore units of GFG.
• Acting company side for Winsway group (now called (E-Commodities) on the US$350 million debt and equity restructure of a Hong Kong listed company, via parallel Hong Kong and BVI schemes of arrangement and US Chapter 15 recognition. Shortlisted for Finance Deal of the Year: Restructuring & Insolvency at The Asia Legal Awards and also for Restructuring Team of the Year at the British Legal Awards. Awarded “most important recognition decision” at the GRR Awards.
• Advising Riverstone Credit on its secured debt facility to the Harland & Wolff group – the UK’s most well-known shipyard and manufacturing base operating in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Partnering with US counsel and UK financial advisors we advised on restructuring options and ultimately on the administration sale of the business to a Spanish state-owned operator.
• Acting for Queensgate Investments on a standstill under and amendment and restatement of its GBP 280m senior and mezzanine facilities to provide it with additional time to implement a disposal of the Kensington Forum Hotel.
• Advising various aircraft lessors on Hong Kong Airlines novel, parallel use of a Hong Kong scheme of arrangement and English restructuring plan to compromise the English and Hong Kong law liabilities owed to various classes of financial and lessor creditors.
• Advising PricewaterhouseCoopers as administrators on the pre-packaged administration sale of various assets out of three companies within the Royale Life group – the much-publicised UK bungalow and caravan park collapse.
• Advising the German companies within the Project Fürst group in respect of their parent company, Project Lietzenburger Strasse Holdco S.À R.L's Restructuring Plan pursuant to Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006.
• Advising Blandford Capital the special situations fund on its acquisition of the Hesley Group, a national adult educational and residential homes provider for autistic adults.
• Advising, in coordination with our Asset Finance team, two US-based aircraft lessors on the French and English restructuring and insolvency aspects of the lease of an aircraft to a French airline in the context of French insolvency proceedings, addressing complex issues relating to the repossession of the aircraft and the protection of lessors’ rights.
• Advising and assisting the Skaugen Group to apply in Singapore for protection under the s. 211B scheme moratorium regime. This resulted in the first reported Singapore court judgment (Re IM Skaugen SE and other matters [2018] SGHC 259) on the requirements of a scheme moratorium.

Our highly regarded and top tier ranked team regularly advises on complex and cross-border asset recovery work, particularly where there is an element of fraud.

Our notable recent cases include.

• Acting for the Enforcement Receivers of twice-convicted fraudster Dr Gerald Smith in relation to one of the largest ever UK confiscation orders made in a case by the serious fraud office. The case involves complex long-running concurrent litigation and/or arbitration in over 10 jurisdictions.
• Acting for Court appointed receivers in Turks and Caicos Island litigation, following an application made by Deutsche Bank as judgment creditor for US$235 million plus interest, following the decision of Mr Justice Cooke in Deutsche Bank AG v Sebastian Holdings Inc.  Sebastian Holdings is an investment vehicle of the Norwegian billionaire Alexander Vik.
• Acting for the liquidators of Rangers Football Club, on all aspects of the liquidation, including successfully pursuing a claim of £100m plus for unlawful means conspiracy arising out of the sale of the club in 2011.
• Acting for a global bank in relation to a US$89m bunker fuel fraud – our work included investigations in both mainland China and Hong Kong; obtaining a Mareva injunction and disclosure orders in the in Hong Kong Court; and working with the Hong Kong Commercial Crime Bureau.
• Acting for creditors and the administrators of the collapsed Huddle Group to investigate and bring claims in respect of the insolvency.

Our market leading and top tier ranked personal insolvency practice has proven and recognised experience of acting on some of the most high-profile and technically difficult personal insolvency mandates in recent years. We are known for our work with major accountancy firms and banks on high-value contentious matters and cross-border asset tracing in relation to wealthy debtors. We also handle cases with a fraud element and have notable expertise in handling sport-related insolvencies.

Our experience includes:

• Acting for the Trustees in Bankruptcy of the tennis star Boris Becker, who subsequent to our investigations into his global network of assets, and multiple court proceedings arising out of assertions of diplomatic immunity, was imprisoned for bankruptcy offences.
• Acting for the Trustees in Bankruptcy of Robin Symes, the deceased and disgraced former antiquities dealer, in relation to the realisation of artwork and antiquities located in various auction houses around the world.
• Acting for the Trustees in Bankruptcy of Georgy Trefilov, named Russia’s 79th richest person in 2011.
• Acting for the Trustees in Bankruptcy of Peter Halvorsen, a Danish real estate tycoon and ex-billionaire
• Advising a compensation scheme set up to compensate victims of a high-profile and extensive fraud committed by employees of a major UK High Street Bank.

Our team is highly experienced in managing matters that span multiple countries, working seamlessly with local advisors to ensure a coordinated approach, notwithstanding conflicting legal systems and differing regulatory standards.

Some of our notable cases include:

• Advising KPMG Ireland as Examiner of Silverpail Dairy, an Irish ice cream manufacture and supplier in connection with an application under English legislation for the recognition in England and Wales of the Irish Examinership of Silverpail and a proposed Scheme of Arrangement promoted in the Examinership.
• Advising the Trustees in Bankruptcy of an individual made bankrupt in Scotland, with recognition of the personal insolvency proceedings in Brazil (representing the first recognition in that country of an overseas personal insolvency process), England, the United States, Switzerland and Italy.
• Acting as special counsel to a Chapter 11 Trustee in the US, advising on the realisation of English assets and on the US sale process.
• Acting for Cayman liquidators: advising on realisation strategy in relation to English assets and on a dispute relating to the ownership of real property.
• Acting for a bankrupt Brazilian estate that perpetrated on investment fraud by obtaining recognition and disclosure orders in England.