Milbank’s special situations practice is set up to advise investment funds and creditors in analysing, structuring and executing investments in multi-layered capital structures in a distressed, refinancing or restructuring scenario. Our capabilities in special situations draw heavily on our knowledge of creditor and borrower risks and concerns in complex leveraged / infrastructure financings involving senior, second lien, high yield, PIK and other types of subordinated financings with potentially contentious intercreditor arrangements. We draw on expertise in our corporate M&A, private equity, project and infrastructure finance, structured finance, aircraft and satellite finance, telecommunications, energy, utilities, outsourcing, intellectual property and tax practices to deliver distinctive value added to analysing a special situations investment.
Our special situations unit is integrated with Milbank’s Financial Restructuring Group, widely known as a leader in corporate restructurings globally since its inception as the first insolvency practice among leading Wall Street law firms. Partners in the group, representing both debtors and creditors, are listed in the Guide to the World’s Leading Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyers, Turnaround and Workouts, International Who's Who of Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyers, Global Insolvency and Restructuring Review, and Guide to the Leading Asia Pacific Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyers.
Transactions that illustrate the breadth and depth of our special situations practice include representing:
-
the Official Creditors Committee in the Chapter 11 proceedings of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, including aspects related to the administration of its subsidiaries in the U.K.;
-
the Supervisory Board of Hypo Real Estate Holding AG in connection with the liquidity crisis of the company;
-
creditors on the restructuring of some of the largest SIVs (Cheyne (US$6bn), Orion (US$850m) and Whistlejacket (US$6bn));
-
distressed and par investment funds in connection with senior and subordinated investments in European LBO debt and equity with an aggregate transaction value exceeding €100 billion;
-
Ad Hoc Committee of Senior Bondholders in the successful restructuring of £1.3 billion of indebtedness of Drax Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries;
-
Supervisory Board of Hypo Real Estate Holding AG in connection with the liquidity crisis of the Company involving, inter alia, the examination of a possible breach of duty by Board Members
-
purchasers of interests in former Enron Europe assets undergoing UK insolvency;
-
Cerberus in its receivership purchase of Boxclever;
-
the private equity investors in the restructuring of the Concordia Bus LBO;
-
MKM Longboat in the establishment of its litigation funding business;
-
Citigroup in its proposed refinancing for the restructuring of Eurotunnel through a French sauvegarde proceeding;
-
Creditors in respect of Teesside Power Limited;
-
Ad Hoc Committee of Noteholders of Global Telesystems Europe (Esprit);
-
Official Creditors' Committee in the Chapter 11 case of ICO Global;
-
Official Creditors' Committee in the Chapter 11 case of Enron Corp.;
-
Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V., L&H Holdings USA, Inc. and Dictaphone Corporation, in their Chapter 11 cases;
-
Price Waterhouse as the U.K. administrative receiver and Maxwell Communications Corporation in its Chapter 11 case;
-
Long Term Capital Management in an out-of-court restructuring.
RESOURCES
Our resources in Europe include 19 partners covering various core disciplines: finance, restructuring, corporate and tax in London, Frankfurt and Munich. We have a network, developed through working relationships with leading law firms, for specialist advice where needed in other relevant jurisdictions.
For more information on Milbank's Global Financial Restructuring Practice click here.