Stephenson Harwood’s Corporate Trust team draws on deep technical expertise, commercial insight, and decades of experience to deliver clear, practical advice - helping corporate trustees navigate their most complex challenges with confidence.
We recognise the pressures and issues trustees can face throughout the lifecycle of a transaction. That’s why we offer comprehensive, end-to-end support, from new issuances and trust administration to dispute resolution, debt restructuring and situations involving issuer distress and enforcement.
We also understand that corporate trustees often fulfil a range of roles. Our team therefore advises trustee entities acting as bond trustee, security trustee, facility agent and escrow agent across capital markets, structured finance, project finance, and banking transactions, including both solvent and insolvent restructurings.
Our clients benefit from our unique ability to combine a rich history of market knowledge with the most up-to-date, commercially focused advice. Our clients repeatedly choose us for our proven ability to deliver practical solutions and to protect their interests in the most challenging scenarios.
They stand out from the crowd.’
Client comment 2024
Our team has been at the forefront of the market for many years, advising on - and helping to shape - many landmark restructurings, including Barings, Railtrack, Marconi, and British Energy. This breadth of experience gives us a genuine edge, enabling us to anticipate challenges and deliver effective, forward-thinking solutions for our clients on recent high-value mandates, such as the £1 billion Fairhold restructuring and complex liability management exercises for major financial institutions.
Our Services
Helping trustees to navigate and respond to events that occur during the life of a transaction.
Relevant experience includes:
- The Co-operative Group
Advised the bond trustee on issues arising in relation to a liability management exercise involving an exchange offer and a scheme of arrangement affecting nine subordinated bond issues by The Co-operative Bank plc aggregating in excess of £1.2 billion. - Bank of Ireland
Advised the bond trustee on a liability management exercise implemented in relation to an aggregate of €2.6 billion of subordinated bonds issued by Bank of Ireland, including extensive dealings with an action group representing retail bondholders. - Bluebonnet Finance plc
Advised on rating downgrade, consent solicitation, and liquidity facility issues. - SEGRO plc
Advised on issuer substitution for a £360m bond issue. - Plantation Place
Advised on consents, waivers, and enforcement for a £460 million real estate securitisation.
Supporting corporate trust clients at every stage of the restructuring process by providing strategic, tailored advice.
Relevant experience includes:
- Fairhold Securitisation Limited
Advised the note trustee on contentious issues arising in relation to this sheltered housing securitisation, taking over from the note trustee's incumbent advisers in September 2017, and subsequently advising the trustee on a compromise of claims and £1 billion restructuring of Fairhold’s notes and swaps liabilities. - ALMC
Advised on enforcement options and compromise of bondholder claims relating to €2.24 billion bonds. - British Energy
Advised on the group’s restructuring and related Scheme of Arrangement.
- Marconi
Advised on the restructuring of Marconi Corporation and related Schemes.
- TXU
Advised on CVAs for TXU Europe Limited, guarantor of £275 million notes and £301 million resettable securities.
Helping corporate trustees navigate complex issues, including potential and actual breaches of underlying transaction documents, removal of trustees, and enforcement of security.
Relevant experience includes:
- Advising the note trustee in connection with circumstances alleged to be an event of default by an activist group of noteholders but disputed by the issuer.
- EA Partners I B.V. & II B.V.
Advised the security trustee on a complex security enforcement process concerning the sale of a package of loans worth approximately US$460 million made to various airlines in connection with defaulting securitisations aggregating US$1.2 billion. - Taberna Europe CDO I plc
Advised the note trustee on issues arising in relation to the €362 million Class A1 Notes, including in connection with court proceedings to determine whether events of defaults alleged by the senior noteholder, but disputed by the issuer, had occurred. - DECO
Advised on delegation of trustee functions and related litigation for €28 million repackaged notes. - Sportingbet plc
Advised on manifest error issues in the context of an £80 million convertible bond issue.
Awards and Recognition
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