Insolvency & restructuring

We can help companies and individuals experiencing financial difficulties to restructure their affairs or, if it cannot be avoided, to assist them through various insolvency procedures. We have close relationships with specialist insolvency practitioners and together we can advise you on the most appropriate way forward.

Restructuring Expertise

With sound planning and pragmatic commercial advice, you can take the necessary steps to help your business. By working closely with financial advisers and tax specialists, we can advise on a number of different restructuring options including:

• Group reorganisation
• Demerger
• Pre-pack sale
• Administration
• Liquidation.
   

Our advice extends to personal assistance to directors on their duties in the context of an insolvent company. We can also advise you on the acquisition of some or all of the business of an insolvent company.

Insolvency Expertise

We advise and assist creditors to achieve the maximum recovery from debtors who may be facing insolvency and to recover any goods protected by retention of title clauses.

We can assist insolvency practitioners with investigations, tracing recovery of book-debts and realisation of assets.

We regularly appear in the Bankruptcy and Companies Court in relation to:-

• The issue and defence of winding-up and bankruptcy petitions
• Applications arising under Sections 127, 212, 214, 216 and 238 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (validation orders, directors’ misfeasance, wrongful trading, re-use of company names and transactions at an undervalue)
• Pursuing and defending claims arising from Part 23 of the Companies Act 2006 (unlawful distribution of dividends)
• Applications to annul bankruptcy orders.

Our Corporate and Property Litigation teams work closely together which enables us to seamlessly draw on the expertise of specialist lawyers.