In the first half of 2024, restructuring activity across 11 European countries resulted in 198 new mandates for restructuring advisors. These new mandates arose from 53 situations involving €121.6 billion of debt. (To submit a mandate, please email us at (email protected) ).
In the courtroom
Of the 53 restructuring deals covered in this report, 15 were in court proceedings. These 15 deals produced 68 mandates (34.3% of the total) for €16.9 billion of debt (13.9% of the total). French software services provider Atos SE launched a sauvegarde financière accélérée (SFA) on July 24 to restructure €4.85 billion of debt, making it the largest deal in court proceedings.
Outside the Court
The remaining 38, with a total of 130 debts totaling €104.7 billion, were undergoing out-of-court restructurings as of the date of this report. French telecommunications company Altice France is by far the largest in this group, with €32.9 billion in debt. As reported by Debtwire, the company only began negotiations with its creditors in late July, despite them first hiring advisers in March 2024.
England
The UK was the top jurisdiction for both new deal volume and debt advice value in the first half of 2024. There were 16 deals in the UK, with 59 deals (29.8% of the total) totalling €44.4 billion (36.5%) of debt. Kemble Water Finance, the private utility company which has not provided an update on the progress of its restructuring since hiring advisers on March 28, was the UK's largest deal with €29.2 billion of debt.
Besides Kemble Water Finance, there were five other cases involving debts of more than €1 billion.
Stonegate Pubs Ltd: In late July, the pub operator secured the backing of a group of bondholders holding 54% of the company's outstanding bonds due 2025 for a restructuring proposal to cover its €3.3 billion debt. Stonegate first hired advisers in January 2024.
Lowell Group: The credit management company, which has debt of more than €3.6 billion as of March 31, 2024, appointed financial advisers in late June ahead of negotiations with creditors.
Farfetch Ltd: This online retail business received a winding up order from a Cayman Islands court in March 2024. Farfetch had €1.8 billion in outstanding debt until it sold the business through a UK pre-pack administration in late January 2024.
TalkTalk Telecom Group: The telecommunications company said on Aug. 12 it had agreed certain restructuring terms with its creditors, including extending the maturities of its revolving credit facility due in November 2024 and its secured notes due in February 2025. Shareholders will also provide the company with £170 million in new funding. The company, which has debt of about €1.8 billion, began the process of identifying bondholders in October 2023.
SGS Finance plc: The owner and manager of shopping centres completed its plan to restructure its €1.5 billion debt in April 2024. SGS Finance began the planning process by issuing a practice statement in January 2024 but subsequently failed to repay £808.5 million of debt that matured on 31 March.
Germany
Germany comes in second in terms of new debt, with 41 new cases involving €7.8 billion of debt. Of Germany's 11 cases, only two involve debt of over €1 billion.
Tele Columbus AG: This fiber optic network operator completed its UK plan in March 2024. The plan included a €1.1 billion debt maturity extension and a €300 million capital contribution from major shareholder Kublai. (See Debtwire's plan profile for more details)
Meyer Werft: According to a July 4 news article, the shipyard has agreed with the works council and unions on key aspects of a restructuring plan. According to an April 15 news article, Meyer Werft, which is €1 billion in debt, has appointed a chief restructuring officer.
Top Advisor
Kirkland & Ellis won the most deals of any law firm in the first half of 2024, winning 14 deals. These deals involved €22.3 billion in debt, also more than any other law firm. Kirkland's largest deal came from advising Luxembourg-based metal and glass packaging manufacturer Ardagh Group on debt management for the company's €9.7 billion in debt. Milbank came in second to Kirkland in both number of new deals and amount of debt advised (9 deals/€5.4 billion in debt).
Among financial advisers, Rothschild had the most mandates with 12, followed by Lazard in second place with 10. In terms of debt advisory value, Lazard came in first with €33.9 billion, mainly due to its role with Altice France.
