Insolvency & Restructuring
Our insolvency and restructuring group is a recognised market leader, with extensive experience in all aspects of insolvency and reconstruction work.
Our clients include banks and other financial institutions, large corporates, the leading accountancy firms, and regulatory agencies.
We assist clients with all aspects of corporate stress and insolvency. This includes corporate recovery measures such as debt restructuring, work-outs, and arrangements and compromises with creditors. It also includes corporate reconstructions, distressed mergers and acquisitions, administration, receiverships, investigations, statutory management, and liquidation.
Our recovery specialists provide assistance with the enforcement of security (including by receivership and mortgagee sales) and proceedings against guarantors.
We have experience in cross-border insolvencies, as well as in distressed debt trading and restructuring investment.
We act in proceedings against directors, fraudulent transfer claims, preference actions, and other insolvency-related litigation.
We bring in specialists from our other groups (for example, our tax and commercial lawyers) as and when they are needed, and work closely with accounting and other professionals, to ensure the best possible commercial outcome.
Our Experience
- McGrath + Nicol - liquidation of the HIH Insurance Group's New Zealand assets (part of Australasia's largest corporate collapse)
- Westpac - receivership of Crafar Farms
- PricewaterhouseCoopers - receivership of Lombard Finance & Investments
- Redknee Solutions Inc - voluntary administration, receivership, and liquidation of Argent Networks, including purchase of business
- PricewaterhouseCoopers - receivership of Compudigm International
- United States institutional investors - restructuring of US$100 million notes issued by South Canterbury Finance
- Treasury and PricewaterhouseCoopers - receivership of Terralink (the first, and to date only, receivership of a state-owned enterprise)
- Sleepyhead Manufacturing Co - counsel in Sleepyhead Manufacturing Co v Dunphy (High Court and Court of Appeal) concerning security interests in the assets of companies in liquidation


