Professional notice
Our PracticeCleary Gottlieb’s global restructuring and bankruptcy practice remains at the …
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Our Practice
Cleary Gottlieb’s global restructuring and bankruptcy practice remains at the forefront of the most complex restructurings, consistently delivering sophisticated, effective, and imaginative advice to clients the world over.
Offering seamless access to each of our offices in the United States, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia, we are particularly qualified to manage transnational restructurings, combining cross-border experience with an appreciation of local sensibilities. The deep ties that we have formed around the world allow our lawyers to understand both the legal and cultural landscapes of highly complex, multi-jurisdictional restructurings.
We continue to play central roles in the highest-profile Chapter 11 proceedings within the United States and the largest private restructurings outside the United States. Our precedent-setting sovereign practice represents numerous governments in their debt renegotiations and liability management transactions, advising such clients as Argentina, Barbados, Benin, Chad, Congo, Greece, Iraq, Puerto Rico and Uruguay. With our top-ranked corporate practices, we provide invaluable strategic and transactional advice to both buyers and sellers, including some of the world’s leading financial institutions, private equity firms, hedge funds, and public and private corporate acquirers. If matters get contentious, clients rely on our substantial experience in litigating insolvency-related matters before courts throughout the United States and Europe.
Our experience
Complex cross-border experience includes advising the following.
- Steering committee of bondholders in Brazilian telecom Oi’s restructuring of $20 billion of liabilities, the largest-ever Latin American bankruptcy, with contested litigation in several forums, including Brazil, the Netherlands, and the United States.
- Punjab National Bank, the victim of a $2 billion fraud by international fugitive Nirav Modi, in the US bankruptcy proceeding of Modi’s subsidiaries in blocking sale of assets because of tainted sales process and obtaining a Chapter 11 trustee.
- Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) in its $6.85 billion complex debt restructuring involving parallel negotiations and execution of multiple new facility agreements with three separate lenders.
- Ad hoc group of bondholders of Odebrecht Oil & Gas, one of the largest oil and gas service providers in Brazil, in connection with the company’s restructuring of over $4.8 billion in debt.
- Nortel Networks and affiliates in their Chapter 11 proceedings, including coordinating these complex cases with proceedings in Canada and Europe, with substantial cross-border litigation.
- Celsa Steel UK in the refinancing of its existing indebtedness with two new secured and guaranteed syndicated loan agreements with two different groups of lenders.
- Far Eastern Shipping Company plc and its affiliates (FESCO) on a comprehensive restructuring of their indebtedness under two series of listed US-dollar-denominated Eurobonds; and two series of rouble-denominated bonds and certain bilateral facilities.
High-profile debtor and creditor experience includes advising the following.
- ESL and Eddie Lampert, Sears’ largest shareholder and creditor (with over $2.6 billion in claims), in the Chapter 11 proceedings of Sears and its debtor affiliates, including as the successful purchaser of substantially all of the assets of Sears for total consideration of approximately $5.2 billion, as well as advising on prepetition transactions and related investigations.
- Grupo Inbursa, a Mexican financial institution and secured lender to multiple entities in the Mossi & Ghisolfi corporate group, in the restructuring of debt in Brazil, Mexico and the United States.
- Empresas ICA in the restructuring of over $1 billion of indebtedness.
- Geoffrey LLC, the owner of the intellectual property of the Toys “R” Us group.
Bankruptcy litigation experience includes advising the following.
- Several global financial institutions with regard to the Madoff fraud—no other firm has played as prominent a role in the defence of Madoff litigation.
- Numerous parties in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, including Goldman Sachs and others holding substantial derivative claims in disputes concerning Lehman’s Chapter 11 plan.
Accolades
- Leading firm for bankruptcy/restructuring, Chambers USA and Chambers Global (2019)
- Top-tier ranked for bankruptcy, Benchmark Litigation (2019)
- Global Finance Deal of the Year Award for Oi’s $20 billion restructuring, The American Lawyer (2018)
- Restructuring Deal of the Year Award for Odebrecht Oil & Gas’ $4.5 billion restructuring, Latin Lawyer (2018)
For more information on Cleary Gottlieb’s bankruptcy and restructuring practice, please visit www.clearygottlieb.com/bankruptcy-and-restructuring.