Restructuring Advice

We are experts in advising companies, creditors, shareholders and other stakeholders facing complex financial situations and challenging circumstances. Our restructuring solutions are designed to maximise value for stakeholders in all situations.

Our Debt Advisory and Financial Restructuring Group is part of one of Europe’s largest teams with 55 restructuring and debt advisory professionals based in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid and Barcelona. The Team in Frankfurt consists of 8 professionals with in-depth knowledge of the financing markets in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Eastern Europe as well as lenders (banks and institutional investors) from Germany and Europe.

Our specialist focus on the debt markets (both public and private) enables us to run sophisticated and professional financial restructuring processes in a way that ensures optimum solutions for our clients on the best possible terms.

We advise on all possible stages of a financial restructuring which can include:

• Refinancing of stressed / unsustainable capital structures
• Covenant Resets
• Fresh Money Injections
• Trust Structures
• Debt-Buy Backs
• Debt-to-Equity Swaps
• Hive-up structures

We have a proven track-record in managing diverse lender syndicates with differing agendas and sensitivities.

Knowing, understanding and managing the expectations of different stakeholders (Shareholders, Management, Senior Lender, Mezzanine Lender, Customers, Suppliers, Workforce) is an important part of every restructuring process.

A wide range of issues need to be taken into account in reaching a solution:

• Management incentivisation
• Business plan visibility
• Adequacy of existing capital structure
• Liquidity profile and need for fresh equity/debt/hybrid capital
• Need for write-down or subordination of debt
• Potential for deleveraging asset disposals
• Demand for re-pricing of existing facilities/restructuring consent fees
• Need for improved / more detailed financial reporting
• Ability to keep existing facilities open
• Need for super senior structures to give fresh money providers additional comfort
• Need for a restructuring opinion (Sanierungsgutachten) in Germany to avoid any lenders’ liability issues
• Need to address any pension liabilities in the restructuring process
• Intercreditor conflicting agendas (e.g. avoiding a haircut vs. providing a viable long term capital structure)
• Jurisdictional insolvency regime issues
• Trust structures to avoid insolvency in cases where alternatives are not viable in Germany

In dealing with the above, we adopt a sophisticated approach to negotiations and understand when to be aggressive vs. when to go for a consensual deal to optimise the outcome for our clients.

Our services may include:

• Identification of potential restructuring solutions via a detailed strategic review
• Analysis and modelling of potential solutions
• Review of business plan and short term liquidity analysis
• Negotiation of commercial terms sheet
• Managing stakeholder communication
• Structuring of management incentive packages
• Analysis of debt capacity
• Detailed valuation (desktop or market-based)
• Structuring of any fresh capital requirement
• Assistance in negotiating the restructuring solution
• Acting as a buffer between our client(s) and other stakeholders in negotiations
• Managing conflicting intra-stakeholder agendas
• Working hand-in-glove with legal counsel (including the provision of commercial input into legal documentation)