Corporate, Restructuring & Insolvency

Druces LLP has a tradition of successful involvement for our clients in business turnaround, rescue, and restructuring. We provide practical legal advice through the spectrum of turnaround to formal insolvency. Our lawyers provide a full service to companies in financial difficulties as well as to banks and other lenders, trade creditors and suppliers. We also act for office-holders in formal insolvency procedures such as administration, company voluntary arrangements, receiverships, and liquidations.

We often put together cross-disciplinary teams of experts in corporate law, corporate finance, commercial property, tax, dispute resolution, employment and pensions who are able to work swiftly in implementing our clients’ commercial requirements and strategies. Our experience is not limited to domestic UK groups – we have expertise in cross-border transactions and assignments involving Europe, the USA and other parts of the globe.

The In-House Lawyer

We have regularly featured as a contributor to The In-House Lawyer, a magazine for in-house counsel in the UK and EMEA, on a range of restructuring and insolvency topics. Our article archive can be found here.

Our recent experience

We received instructions from the liquidators to act on an application to the Companies Court to obtain a Berkeley Applegate and other orders permitting the liquidators to charge costs for the administration, processing and sale of £14m of wine held by an insolvent wine investment company.

We advised on a possible refinancing of a high profile lingerie business. We advised the board on their duties and responsibilities given the company’s distressed financial state. We advised and acted in the directors’ notice of intention to appoint Administrators which created a moratorium giving a breathing space over the Christmas holiday season (2015) and advised on a potential sale of part of the business (including dealing with due diligence and communications with interested parties).

We have been advising an alternative energy company in financial difficulties. We are advising the company in “the twilight zone”. The shareholders are taking an active interest and the company is in CVA. We are working closely with the administrators as the Supervisor of the CVA.

We assisted the joint liquidators in the liquidation of a company which traded in the business of prop rental. The company’s landlord made an application to put the company into administration and a sale of the company’s business to an unconnected company was achieved in the administration. The company subsequently entered creditors’ voluntary liquidation. We have continued to advise and assist the officeholders in relation to various matters since then.

We received instructions to manage the legal and contentious aspects arising out of the insolvent estate of an ultra high net worth individual (deceased). The main contentious element of the work involves the resolution of a claim against a company within the estate for repayment of a €multi-million loan, involving allegations of fraud and cross-border proceedings in England & Wales and France.
We advised the director of a large tour operator on proposed claims by the administrators for wrongful trading, breaches of statutory and fiduciary duties and preference payments. The claim involves complicated issues in relation to the use of foreign exchange facilities in the travel sector.
We acted for a high profile specialist sports car manufacturer, pre-administration and then subsequently acting for the administrators.