IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

	Allen & Overy Clifford Chance Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Linklaters
	Bingham McCutchen Latham & Watkins Slaughter and May
	SNR Denton Weil Gotshal & Manges White & Case
	Hogan Lovells Jones Day Kirkland & Ellis Sidley Austin Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
	Ashurst Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft CMS Cameron McKenna Herbert Smith Macfarlanes Simmons & Simmons

It's a strange time to be making an assessment of the state of the UK restructuring and insolvency market. Certainly looking back over the last 12 months one would conclude that the boom period, if one could call it that, that occurred after the 2008 financial crisis had slowed considerably with practitioners reporting a slow market particularly on the domestic front.

However there is an increasing sense that we could be experiencing the classic 'calm before the storm'. The European debt crisis continues apace drawing more EU states towards the cliff edge with every passing day, while in the US the country has witnessed the first debt downgrade for over 100 years with rating agency Standard & Poors ripping away its treasured AAA rating.

Even without mentioning the Japanese nuclear disaster or more pertinently the expected 'wall of debt' refinancing which draws ever closer and you could confidently predict that there is plenty of worry and struggle ahead and in its wake a rise in work for R&I departments.

Of all these issues it is the EU debt crisis which is closest to home and may well be the first source of new work, as one partner says: "If any of those [States] were to fall over and were to put extra pressure on the Euro, it would be cross your fingers time."

All of this however is in the increasingly uncertain future. Looking back and the market, in the UK at least, has been relatively quiet. The Bank of England's continued low interest rates and an unwillingness by creditors and the banks to face up to the issues on their balance sheets has left the market somewhat in limbo. "Because interest rates are so low, most corporates are OK." says one partner, "It's a market that's generating some restructuring but because of the liquidity in the secondary bank market there's not a huge amount."

The key point raised by practitioners though was that this relative slowdown in mandates was not a sign of true economic recovery but simply a case of delaying and ignoring the issues, hoping that all the ships would rise with the tide. "Banks are unwilling to take a hold of their balance sheets," explains one partner. "The theme of 2010-11 has been extend and pretend, it's quite a brave move to take on a restructuring."

The same signs are seen in terms of insolvency: "Those who are waiting on formal insolvencies, people are waiting for an interest rate hike," says one partner. "I think it's going to come, I think it's going to come at the end of the year. Then there's the more discreet work going on behind the scenes."

There's only so long that you can ignore big problems on balance sheets though and even without considering external factors, many entities will have to restructure or refinance assets sooner or later. Although the oft-used description of these looming issues as a 'wall' of debt was much ridiculed by partners, with many offering their own metaphor – "I wouldn't call it a wall, it's more a wave really, it'll come in waves," says one - there was a common surprise that clients had not yet tackled some of these issues. "The wall of debt is used often to say things will get busier," says one partner, "but I think generally a lot of corporates are still in denial. It can't last much longer."

Where business has been brisk has been in CMBS restructuring. "The CMBS market is enormous," says one partner, "it's a market that is desperately in need of restructuring because there is so many different opportunities and CMBS is a very conflicted and difficult area."

Pockets of activity have also been reported elsewhere: "The automotive sector will continue to throw up work, there will be an increase in retail, there'll be pressure on things like nursing homes, healthcare is under pressure," says one lawyer. "The real trend that we have seen is real estate restructuring," says another. Firms have also seen increasing work outside of the domestic arena: "There hasn't been a lot of domestic UK work but further afield there's been an awful lot going on," suggests one partner.

Firms are also optimistic about the increased interest in parts of the UK R&I toolkit from other jurisdictions: "There's a lot of people looking at using UK schemes of arrangement in other jurisdictions like Germany," says one partner and another agrees, "It's a natural development, at times like these clients are looking at all their options and all the structures and procedures to see which one fits them best."

"The firms that are bank focused are always going to get a lot in from their large bank clients," says one peer and nowhere is this more true than at Allen & Overy who have simply been involved in nearly all of the largest bank related restructurings to have taken place since the financial crisis.There was no better example of this than the huge and convoluted proceedings surrounding the restructuring of Dubai World.... [more]

"The firms that are bank focused are always going to get a lot in from their large bank clients," says one peer and nowhere is this more true than at Allen & Overy who have simply been involved in nearly all of the largest bank related restructurings to have taken place since the financial crisis.

There was no better example of this than the huge and convoluted proceedings surrounding the restructuring of Dubai World. This included four key proceedings in the Middle East: the $14.4 billion restructuring of Dubai World itself, the $10.4 billion restructuring of Nakheel, the $3 billion restructuring of Drydocks World and the $2.5 billion restructuring of Dubai International Capital. The A&O team led by Mark Sterling, Michael Duncan and Carolyn Conner led a 30 lawyer team to co-ordinate the creditor committees and negotiate with over 100 banks with interests in the various companies. The London team worked alongside counterparts in Hong Kong and Dubai itself on the deal, which represented the first sign that the global financial crisis had reached the Middle East.

Another notable and long-term mandate saw Katrina Buckley and Nicholas Clark acting for the lenders on the most recent £1.5 billion restructuring of telecommunications company Wind Hellas. This led on from the firm's advice on a previous restructuring in 2009. The most recent work included a pre-pack administration, a shift of the company's main operational focus (COMI shift) and, in a sign of a recent trend, an English scheme of arrangement. Partner Randal Weeks also acted separately for the security agent on enforcement issues.

The team also took on mandates arising from the Irish financial crisis. Earl Griffith and David Campbell advised the Quinn Group on the restructuring of the group's debts, which involved negotiations with Anglo Irish Bank and the financial regulator.

Again on the bank side, the firm also acted for the coordinators on the group restructuring of Cattles which involved restructuring various interlocking schemes of arrangement. Gordon Stewart, Trevor Borthwick and Michael Castle coordinated the deal whose most interesting feature was a new shareholder scheme, which would see the company acquired by an orphan entity.

Finally Ian Field and Marc Florent acted for Barclays as the security trustee on the restructuring of the European Directories Group. As well as acting in the general restructuring – which saw the companies debts moved to a holding company owned by the senior lenders – the team won a case in the court of appeal with Barclays arguing against a release provision included in the intercreditor agreement.

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Clifford Chance stands beside Allen & Overy as the prime bank side counsel in major restructurings across Europe and the Middle East. Led by Mark Hyde, few would argue against the team's continuing ranking in the top tier.... [more]

Clifford Chance stands beside Allen & Overy as the prime bank side counsel in major restructurings across Europe and the Middle East. Led by Mark Hyde, few would argue against the team's continuing ranking in the top tier.

One client who worked with Nick Frome says: "They did a good job, no hesitation using him again he is superb. Good resources, good team. They designate a particular partner for a particular business area. Nick's only weakness is spending too long a time pursuing something that can be avoided." Another says: "Nick was very keen to innovate, comes up with new ideas, quite academic, the team as a whole is able to find a way around a problems to fit circumstances."

The firm can also point to a more rounded corporate side practice than its nearest competitors with one obvious example seeing the firm go head to head with key rival A&O on the restructuring of Dubai World, with Clifford Chance representing the state-owned entity. Consisting of four major restructurings under the umbrella of the parent deal, the total value of the mandate was no less than $23 billion. The deal received a great deal of attention as it represented arguably the first chink in the armour of Dubai's extravagant economic advance and the first major restructuring of its kind in the Middle East involving a state-owned entity. Alongside the main restructuring the team also acted for Nakheel on its debt restructuring and separation from Dubai World. This involved negotiations with trade creditors and lenders of both Islamic and conventional facilities. Mark Hyde, Melissa Coakley and Catherine Bridge were the principal partners alongside a London finance team and a separate team on the ground in Dubai.

Another major mandate saw a team led by Adrian Cohen, Roger Leese, Chris Higgins and Nicky Reader acting for private placement noteholders in relation to the £2.2 billion restructuring of Cattles, with the debt consisting of bank and bond facilities.

Showing its bank side strength the team acted for the senior lenders in the €950 million restructuring of Independent News and Media. With the debt again a combination of bank and bond facilities the team brought in partners from its finance, capital markets and corporate teams. The team was led by Nick Frome and Nicola Wherity and Frome also acted again for the senior lenders on the restructuring of £500 million of senior and mezzanine facilities granted to Alliance Medical.

In an example of the increasing trend of using English schemes of arrangement in other jurisdictions the team advised the senior co-ordinating committee consisting of York Capital and Bank of Ireland on the restructuring and debt restructuring of Tele Columbus consisting of a sale of shares to a lender controlled vehicle at the same time as a German law share pledge enforcement process. As a result the London team worked with their Frankfurt contemporaries.

In May 2011 the team was boosted by the promotion of John MacLennan to the partnership. He hit the ground running acting, alongside Philip Hertz, for RBS and other members of a bank syndicate acting on the restructuring and pre-pack administration sale of the Ultralase Group.

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Freshfields is often accused of being not fully committed to its finance practice. At a firm with such a strong corporate heritage this is perhaps not surprising but the practice has in recent years made steps to enhance its bank side offering.... [more]

Freshfields is often accused of being not fully committed to its finance practice. At a firm with such a strong corporate heritage this is perhaps not surprising but the practice has in recent years made steps to enhance its bank side offering. On the restructuring side a good balance has been achieved, however this been slightly curtailed by the departure of Chris Howard who returned to his previous firm Linklaters in January 2011.

However in general peers still see the team as a top tier practice. "Freshfields have a very good team, a good practice," says one peer and another agrees: "Freshfields have made great strides in recent times."

Clients were keen to point out the negotiating skills of Richard Tett: "Very strong. He knows his stuff. Very helpful finding solutions, very good at negotiating, understanding the position around the table, the economic and legal aspect," says one. "The people rather than firm are key. Richard is exceptionally good, the main reason we continue to go back to them."

In line with the recent trend of using English schemes of arrangement in other European jurisdictions, a team led by Tett and Neil Golding acted for La Seda de Barcelona in August 2010. The deal was the first time such a structure had been used in Spain and could be used as an example for future deals in the region involving English law governed debt.

The firm's growing prominence in Spain is throwing up a decent number of mandates as the country continues to deal with issues as part of the wider European debt crisis. Another example saw Tett again involved advising Metrovasca on its English-law scheme of arrangement.

Staying in Iberia and shifting to bank side mandates, the team also advised the senior lenders including ING, Babson, ECM and Harbourmaster on the restructuring of the Panrico group. The deal saw the lenders take control of the baked goods company through a debt for equity swap. Department head Ken Baird led the team alongside Alex Mitchell and Madrid based Ana Lopez.

One client who worked with the Madrid and London teams says: "Madrid, the quality of team was good, they did a good job on assignments." The client, who also worked with Adam Gallagher continues: "First class, number of restructuring deals, he leaves no stone unturned, good on potential restructuring and the ramifications, a very experienced lawyer. They are the best of the magic circle."

Like many of its top tier rivals, the firm also took a role on the Cattles Group restructuring advising the company itself on the £2.3 billion deal. The deal saw the equity taken private under a scheme of arrangement, a pensions restructuring and a new mechanism for the much debated payment protection insurance (PPI).

Finally the firm continues to act for the administrators of Icelandic bank Landsbanki Islands Heritable Bank on the effects of transfer orders made by HM Treasury, which transferred the bank's retail deposit book to ING and the the residential mortgage loan book to Oakwood Capital.

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"Linklaters do get a pretty good run now they have managed to free a couple of people from Lehman," says one peer highlighting what many in the market highlighted as both a blessing and a curse for the firm in recent years. The seemingly unstoppable surge of Lehman related matters has no doubt kept the team busy, but the firm has had to guard against neglect of the other members of its client base and the perception in the wider market that it has become a one-client operation.... [more]

"Linklaters do get a pretty good run now they have managed to free a couple of people from Lehman," says one peer highlighting what many in the market highlighted as both a blessing and a curse for the firm in recent years. The seemingly unstoppable surge of Lehman related matters has no doubt kept the team busy, but the firm has had to guard against neglect of the other members of its client base and the perception in the wider market that it has become a one-client operation.

However the fact remains that if you are one of the primary firms engaged in such a complex, varied and wide ranging mandate as the Lehman collapse, there is no doubt that valuable experience will be gained. "I think Linklaters have benefited enormously from Lehman," says one peer.

The duo of Richard Holden and Tony Bugg received much client praise with their complementary skills: "I've worked with them for years. Tony Bugg and Richard Holden - they are top-notch. Tony Bugg is the top insolvency lawyer in the UK in my view. Richard Holden is one of the top restructuring lawyers in the UK."

Richard Bussell also receives praise: "One of the best in the industry, the best on restructuring and insolvency. Best in class, he is a very strong partner. Good interpersonal skills, building consensus across the group. Incredibly knowledgeable of my business area," says another client.

The firm's bank side practice received a considerable boost in January 2011 when it welcomed back Chris Howard from Freshfields. Howard had been at Links before moving across and becoming partner at its magic circle rival.

When contemplating the firm's deal highlights there's only one place to start. The team continues to act on the Lehman insolvency most recently acting for PricewaterhouseCoopers as administrators of the bank's UK companies. Tony Bugg, Richard Holden and David Ereira continue to lead the team on work including the return of assets to clients, debt claimants, pension issues and advising on negotiations with various affiliates over claims and litigation relating to the so called Rascals case over the ownerships of securities.

Outside of this, the team led by Rebecca Jarvis and Yen Sum acted on the major restructuring of European Directories advising senior lenders including Alcenta, Allied Irish, Lloyds, M&G Investment Management and RBS on the senior, mezzanine and Pik debt. The deal also included acting on the case in the Court of Appeal where a high court decision finding in favour of two junior lenders was overturned allowing the senior lenders to enact a restructuring plan which saw the company's shares and debts being placed under the control of a new company under the control of the senior lenders.

Another highlight saw Yushan Ng acting for the senior noteholders on the restructuring of telecoms company the Hellas Group. The mandate brought in Linklaters partners from the capital markets team and also from the firm's Luxembourg office.

The firm's international network was generally praised, though clients pointed out that as with most firms, there is room for improvement: "The New York office was excellent, Belgium not on the same level as London and New York, they lacked the same technical knowledge and tended to flip flop on position a little. Offices were very well coordinated though," says one.

Another mandate which required the firm to draw on resources from various offices saw the London team combining with counterparts in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, New York, Tokyo and Beijing on the restructuring of Almatis. Following the company's debt default in 2009, the company was put under US Chapter 11 bankruptcy, emerging in September 2010 with a restructuring plan approved by the court with the company's creditors.

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Bingham McCutchen holds a unique place within the market, which is relatively unrivalled among its peers. The team acts almost exclusively for bondholders and peers hold the niche practice in high regard.... [more]

Bingham McCutchen holds a unique place within the market, which is relatively unrivalled among its peers. The team acts almost exclusively for bondholders and peers hold the niche practice in high regard. "Bingham, I see them as now having a free run at the note holder work given the decline of Cadwalader," says one peer and another agrees: "Bingham's are in a class of their own, on the bond side."

This reputation and another strong list of mandates sees the firm retain its place in the second tier. "I think you have to put Bingham in tier two because of their work in that particular field," says another peer.

The most high profile mandate in this field saw a team led by practice co-head James Roome act for the committee of the senior noteholders in respect of the €1.8 billion restructuring of Wind Hellas through a pre-pack sale.

James Roome is a client favourite: "Came up with novel forms of restructuring and was aware of the markets and new developments," says one client. "They are technically superb. Very high knowledge of our business area."

Work related to Icelandic bank collapses continues to provide work for a number of firms and last year a team led by co-head Barry Russell acted for the holders of $24 billion bonds in Kaupthing, Glitnir and Landsbanki. This involved acting with the informal creditors committees of the three banks.

Russell also acted on a number of mandates related to private placement note holders, which was a big feature of the firm's work last year. In the biggest deal of this type, the team acted for approximately 40 institutions as note holders issued by Thompson as part of the French companies €2.8 billion debt to equity conversion. In a similar deal Russell again acted for noteholders as part of the €1.2 billion restructuring of the Quinn Group. Finally, the firm acted again for holders of notes issued by the two remaining divisions of the Connaught Group (Environment and Compliance) as part of their restructuring following administration.

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Two of the key figures at Latham & Watkins are John Houghton and Holly Neavill who provide both UK and US advice on restructuring and insolvency matters. A client who worked with both Christopher Hall and Neavill says: "The reason for choosing Latham was because of Christopher Hall.... [more]

Two of the key figures at Latham & Watkins are John Houghton and Holly Neavill who provide both UK and US advice on restructuring and insolvency matters.

A client who worked with both Christopher Hall and Neavill says: "The reason for choosing Latham was because of Christopher Hall. He is a very senior partner and he used to be a general counsel. He has a hands-on approach developing strategies with a group of advisors. Holly was the extended arm, she was instrumental in negotiation and implementing, not just giving advice on situations, she was actively involved with my delegation. Christopher gave a valuable input and saved us a lot of money. Latham is a top brand."

The firm's communication with its other offices was also praised: "Moscow did very well on security issues, they performed very well together, very useful, for anti monopoly issues they communicated very well internally."

The team has had roles on some of the year's biggest mandates including Dubai World. Making use of its increasing presence in the Middle East, the firm acted for the Dubai Financial Support Fund and the Government of the emirate on the major restructuring, which was notable not only for its size but as its status as the first major restructuring of a UAE state entity, a sign that the financial crisis had reached the previously immune states of the Gulf.

Another major mandate was the Wind Hellas restructuring, on which the team advised on a bridge facility granted by Morgan Stanley to the senior secured noteholders, with the funds used to acquire the telecoms company.

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Led by George Seligman the team at Slaughter and May, as in other practice areas, is comprised of partners who are not solely focused on restructuring and insolvency work, but rather work on mandates across a number of areas. While in many mandates this can be a useful feature as partners can draw on a wider experience, peers do point out that in certain cases more dedicated teams have the edge due to their greater focus.... [more]

Led by George Seligman the team at Slaughter and May, as in other practice areas, is comprised of partners who are not solely focused on restructuring and insolvency work, but rather work on mandates across a number of areas. While in many mandates this can be a useful feature as partners can draw on a wider experience, peers do point out that in certain cases more dedicated teams have the edge due to their greater focus. However one thing you can guarantee with Slaughter and May is quality and the team maintains its place based on strong client feedback and some solid mandates.

"They are perhaps a little bit different from the other law firms because at Slaughters the lawyers are less segmented," explains one client. "At Slaughter and May the lawyers try to do it all, they are a lot more generalist in their approach which can be useful if your working across a number of areas."

Utilising its strong government links, one of the stand out mandates last year saw Guy O'Keefe advise on the creation of a holding company for parts of the nationalised bank Northern Rock including the asset management wing and the building society Bradford & Bingley.

With the heavy exposure of many UK institutions to several of the collapsed Icelandic banks, related mandates have provided a good stream of work for many firms. In this area, last year the team acted for HM Treasury in High Court proceedings related to the collapsed bank Kaupthing. This saw the treasury, having failed to find a buyer for the bank, apply for its administration and subsequently transfer depositors' interests to ING Direct. Proceedings saw the Treasury go up against Kaupthing's administrators in order to determine where assets would be transferred to, with the Treasury successfully arguing for their transfer to the government's Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

Lead partner George Seligman meanwhile was involved advising marine electronics company Raymarine on the various pre-administration offers by Garmin and Flir Systems for its assets and the final pre-pack sale to Flir following the administration process in May 2010.

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White & Case's R&I team is focused on debt restructuring often emanating from emerging jurisdictions in the CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) and the Middle East.Clearly the key deal for the firm last year was advising Greek telecommunications company Wind Hellas on its €1.... [more]

White & Case's R&I team is focused on debt restructuring often emanating from emerging jurisdictions in the CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) and the Middle East.

Clearly the key deal for the firm last year was advising Greek telecommunications company Wind Hellas on its €1.9 billion debt restructuring. The deal, which was led by Mark Glengarry and Christian Pilkington saw the firm restructure in order for it to be reacquired by existing sponsor Weather Investments.

"White & Case is extremely good at restructuring, well suited for the broad spectrum of situations with good knowledge of administration as well as bespoke financial transactions," was one clients view of the firm and another agrees: "Established relationship for five years. Continued excellence in restructuring, performing at a high standard to continue to get our business, they do very well."

The firm is best known for its emerging markets practice and this was demonstrated last year as it acted for two of Kazakhstan's major banks, BTA Bank and Alliance bank as they looked to restructure their debts under the new Kazakh banking law. With the firm having helped to draft the law, they were well placed to act on the deals. In London Francis Fitzherbert-Brockholes, Stuart Matty and Mark Glengarry led the team.

In Russia, the firm worked on another debt restructuring deal, this time for En+ Group, an aluminium and energy conglomerate as it restructured a $1.05 billion loan.

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Weil made a significant step forward this year in the R&I space with the hire of former Jones Day partner Adam Plainer. Having only joined the firm in March 2011, the market will wait to see what impact the new appointee will make, but his track record is certainly a positive one and Weil will be hoping it can take the London practice to the next level.... [more]

Weil made a significant step forward this year in the R&I space with the hire of former Jones Day partner Adam Plainer. Having only joined the firm in March 2011, the market will wait to see what impact the new appointee will make, but his track record is certainly a positive one and Weil will be hoping it can take the London practice to the next level.

There is one mandate that overshadows all others for Weil, which is their work on the Lehman Brothers Chapter 11 proceedings. There are numerous aspects to the firm's advice in this regard, but examples of work in the courts include dealing with the Pensions Regulator in regard to Contribution Notices made against several Lehman companies and proceedings before the English Supreme Court in regard to the scope of anti-deprivation principles in the ISDA Master Agreement.

Another high-profile mandate saw the team acting for the resolution committee of Icelandic bank Kaupthing on negotiations with creditors and other aspects of its restructurings.

The restructuring of Almatis was another headline deal and the London team along with the firm's Munich and New York offices advised Dubai International Capital on the chemical and aluminium producer's pre-pack Chapter 11 proceedings.

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The Kirkland team is led by Kon Asimacopoulos and Partha Kar and the firm is largely focused on corporate side mandates.One of the largest deals worked on by the team involved both lead partners acting for the European Directories Group on its €2.... [more]

The Kirkland team is led by Kon Asimacopoulos and Partha Kar and the firm is largely focused on corporate side mandates.

One of the largest deals worked on by the team involved both lead partners acting for the European Directories Group on its €2.1 billion debt restructuring. The deal was done through a court sanctioned pre-packaged administration and saw the team work alongside Linklaters and Allen & Overy.

Making the most of its private equity links, the team also acted for Oaktree Capital on the $1.1 billion restructuring of Almatis. Oaktree was the largest first lien lender to the group and ultimately had its restructuring plan accepted.

Another substantial deal saw Asimacopoulos acting for Japanese airline company JAL on its global restructuring of $28 billion of debt.

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Stephen Foster leads the seven partner team at Hogan Lovells who last year had a role on one of the year's largest deals, advising the Bank of New York Mellon as a note trustee of two senior issuances by Wind Hellas, the Greek telecommunications group. This was part of the group's larger restructuring which involved €1.... [more]

Stephen Foster leads the seven partner team at Hogan Lovells who last year had a role on one of the year's largest deals, advising the Bank of New York Mellon as a note trustee of two senior issuances by Wind Hellas, the Greek telecommunications group. This was part of the group's larger restructuring which involved €1.2 billion of debt.

The team also acted for the Trustee of the Nortel Networks UK Pension Plan and the board of the Pension Protection Plan their claims against the wider Nortel Group after its collapse.

"They were dealing with a level of complexity, they remained calmed and measured," says one client. "They gave us the confidence they would do a good job."

In a similar deal, the firm also advised the Straumur-Burdaras Investment Bank on the €1.8 billion restructuring of various creditor claims pursuant to an Icelandic court-approved composition agreement. This agreement saw parts of the claims converted into shares and bonds.

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Department head Patrick Corr took on some of Sidley's major restructuring mandates last year including advise to the Regus Group on the restructuring of its UK operations. Corr also acted for the joint administrators of Titan Outdoor Advertising as part of the restructuring of the Titan Outdoor Group.... [more]

Department head Patrick Corr took on some of Sidley's major restructuring mandates last year including advise to the Regus Group on the restructuring of its UK operations. Corr also acted for the joint administrators of Titan Outdoor Advertising as part of the restructuring of the Titan Outdoor Group.

He is certainly held in high regard by clients: "Technically astute, good level of technical knowledge, commercial approach, excellent negotiator," says one. "Patrick is one of the best in the industry, he has received a personal accolade from the head of restructuring at Bank of America Merrill Lynch for these abilities."

Clients were also keen to point out that though the firm is not cheap, the benefits of the advice received balanced this out: "He [Corr] saved us a lot of money on deals. Not cheap but good value for money," says one.

The team also acted for the Smurfit Stone Container Group on its Canadian bankruptcy proceedings.

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The Skadden restructuring team led by Christopher Mallon was slightly reduced last year following the retirement of partner Lynn Heistand.The team secured a role on one of the year's largest deals acting for parent company Weather Investments on the restructuring of portfolio company Wind Hellas Telecommunication.... [more]

The Skadden restructuring team led by Christopher Mallon was slightly reduced last year following the retirement of partner Lynn Heistand.

The team secured a role on one of the year's largest deals acting for parent company Weather Investments on the restructuring of portfolio company Wind Hellas Telecommunication. In the same sector, the team also acted for the Tele Columbus Group on its debt restructuring. This was achieved through a debt transfer and a debt for equity swap.

The firm also worked on two notable bankruptcy related mandates. In one, Mallon acted for MGM on its prepackaged bankruptcy procedures. He also acted for the CIT Group on its prepackaged Chapter 11 reorganisation.

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Ashurst's restructuring team led by Giles Boothman splits its time evenly between LBO restructurings and bondholder representation.In the former, the team acted on the high profile Wind Hellas restructuring, advising Zolfo Cooper as administrators of the group as it restructured its £1.... [more]

Ashurst's restructuring team led by Giles Boothman splits its time evenly between LBO restructurings and bondholder representation.

In the former, the team acted on the high profile Wind Hellas restructuring, advising Zolfo Cooper as administrators of the group as it restructured its £1.8 billion debt. Acting for the company this time, the team also advised Panrico on its €600 million debt restructuring and Gala Coral on its £3 billion restructuring.

Real estate related transactions were another source of work for the team and Nigel Stacey and Dan Hamilton acted last year for Real Estate Opportunities on its financial restructuring and demerger from Battersea Power Station. The team also advised RBS on the Ethel Austin restructurings and pre-pack administration.

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Kevin Pullen leads the restructuring and insolvency team at Herbert Smith, which secured a role on one of the largest insolvencies of the last 12 months when it acted for Ernst & Young as the administrators for Nortel Network’s EMEA entities. With 30,000 people employed internationally, the company, which had substantial operations in the US and Canada, was one of the largest insolvencies of the last few years and included up to $3 billion of M&A divestments.... [more]

Kevin Pullen leads the restructuring and insolvency team at Herbert Smith, which secured a role on one of the largest insolvencies of the last 12 months when it acted for Ernst & Young as the administrators for Nortel Network’s EMEA entities. With 30,000 people employed internationally, the company, which had substantial operations in the US and Canada, was one of the largest insolvencies of the last few years and included up to $3 billion of M&A divestments. Stephen Gale, Kevin Pullen, Kevin Lloyd and John Whiteoak all acted on the deal.

Further work from Ernst & Young came when the team acted for the accounting firm as administrators of Bridgewater.

Another insolvency mandate saw a team led by Simon Chadney, Don Rowlands and Jeremy Walden advise the Lloyds Banking Group and Deloitte on the £400 million insolvency of the Thornfield Group.

The Icelandic banking crisis has provided plenty of work for firms this year and Herbert Smith was no exception. Kevin Lloyd and John Whiteoak advised Transport for London as creditors in proceedings brought by the administrators of Icelandic bank KSF. The case was to determine whether certain creditors could make a claim on the account established by the FSA (Financial Services Authority) after the bank’s collapse to hold its assets.

Finally on the restructuring side, Laurence Elliott and Nick Pantlin acted for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme on the restructuring of Welcome Financial Services a subsidiary of the Cattles Group. The deal was connected to the miss selling of payment protection insurance (PPI) an issue, which grabbed the headlines in the UK this year.
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One of Simmons & Simmons’ largest mandates last year came from Macquarie bank who called in Alan Gar, Richard Hughes & Alyson Lockett to act on the restructuring of the European Directories Group. With debt obligations of €2 billion euros, the deal was one of the largest of the last 12 months.... [more]

One of Simmons & Simmons’ largest mandates last year came from Macquarie bank who called in Alan Gar, Richard Hughes & Alyson Lockett to act on the restructuring of the European Directories Group. With debt obligations of €2 billion euros, the deal was one of the largest of the last 12 months.

Another highlight saw the firm act for the second lien lenders in regard to the restructuring of the Almatis Group.
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