Restructuring and Insolvency

When a company gets into financial strife, its directors ultimately have to decide whether to save the business or bring it to an end. The options for going down either path can be daunting. It’s why decision makers need the best advice possible to achieve the best possible outcome for everyone affected – the company, its creditors, management, shareholders and staff.

Our Restructuring and Insolvency lawyers have extensive experience working in an area that’s highly regulated. It’s where intense technical knowledge and detailed process goes hand-in-hand with industry experience, negotiating skills, lateral thinking and a commercial mindset.

Working with companies and their corporate and financial advisors, our national team identify and implement solutions to problems. Each situation needs a different approach, and working the process from every angle helps us navigate the system to help our clients achieve their needs, allowing them to get on with business in the future.

Whether it’s negotiating the recapitalisation of a company, advising directors on their obligations or assisting insolvency practitioners and receivers, our team are trusted to deliver results.

services

We advise insolvency clients across all areas of expertise, in particular:

Advising insolvency practitioners
Asset sales
Capital raising
Debt conversion and recovery
Financial moratoriums and debt deferrals
Government assistance
Lease and other contract renegotiations
Litigation in all jurisdictions
PPSA advice for secured creditors and insolvency situations
Restructuring options for directors and companies
Receiverships
Safe harbour for directors and directors’ duties generally
Working with corporate and personal insolvency appointments

recent experience

sweet sale success

The administrators of a small chocolate making company needed to fend off a winding up application to give them time to find a buyer for the business. Macpherson Kelley convinced the Court three times it was in the best interests of creditors for adjournments of the winding up order to be granted. As a result, the administrators were able to find a buyer for the business as a going concern. The jobs of 15 employees were saved in the lead up to Christmas and the business continues to operate under the new owner.
business or personal

Macpherson Kelley acted for a company director facing claims of insolvent trading, unreasonable director related actions and breaches of duties. The director’s husband had gone bankrupt and she was involved because the couple had mingled their personal and company finances. The client feared losing her house, her last remaining asset. The case was complicated, as the lack of record keeping was a cause of the problem in the first place, and made a defence even more difficult. We were able to negotiate a settlement, avoiding bankruptcy for the director and allowed her to keep her house.
debt rescheduling and recapitalisation

We recently acted for a retail group that defaulted to its financier as a result of cashflow drying up in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. We worked with the company’s directors to downsize the business and reschedule the debt while obtaining the benefit of legal “safe harbour”. This allowed the company to raise sufficient additional capital to carry out its cut down Business Plan which focuses on generating revenue via e-commerce.
administration of listed public company

We acted for the Administrators of an ASX-listed public company which had a large number of retail outlets throughout Australia. We advised with respect to a range of issues including the possible sale of the business as a going concern, competing claims between the secured creditor and parties claiming retention of title over stock, legal strategies with respect to the disposal of stock, arrangements with landlords to allow certain outlets to remain open to allow sales to be conducted, and the distribution of amounts recovered to creditors. In addition, as there was value to creditors in the Company’s ASX listing, as well as in the preservation of franking credits, we advised on the best way of realising these for the benefit of creditors. This required dealing with ASX as well as ASIC to achieve the best possible outcome.