In the first half of 2024, restructuring activities across 11 European countries resulted in 198 new mandates for restructuring advisors. These new mandates stemmed from 53 situations involving EUR 121.6bn of debt. (If you would like to submit mandates, please email [email protected]).

In-court

Of the 53 restructuring situations in this report, 15 were engaged in an in-court process. These 15 situations generated 68 mandates (34.3% of the total) on EUR 16.9bn debt (13.9% of the total). Atos SE was the largest in-court situation with the French software services provider commencing on 24 July, a sauvegarde financière accélérée (SFA) to restructure its EUR 4.85bn debt stack.

Out-of-court

The other 38 situations, which together accounted for 130 mandates on EUR 104.7bn debt, are restructuring out-of-court as of this report’s date. Among this cohort, French telecom Altice France’s EUR 32.9bn debt stack was by far the largest. The company only began engaging with creditors in late-July, even though creditors first hired advisors in March 2024, as Debtwire reported.

United Kingdom

The UK was the top jurisdiction both in terms of the number of new mandates and the amount of debt advised on in 1H24. There were 16 UK situations that accounted for 59 mandates (29.8% of the total), on EUR 44.4bn debt (36.5%). Private utility company Kemble Water Finance plc, which has not provided any update on its restructuring progress since hiring advisors on 28 March, was the largest UK situation, with EUR 29.2bn debt.

Other than Kemble Water Finance, there were five other situations that involved more than EUR 1bn debt:

Stonegate Pub Co Ltd: In late July, the pub operator secured the support of a bondholder group holding 54% of its outstanding due-2025s for a restructuring proposal that covers the company’s EUR 3.3bn debt stack. Stonegate first engaged advisors in January 2024.

Lowell Group: The credit-management firm, which had over EUR 3.6bn debt as of 31 March 2024, appointed a financial advisor in late June ahead of negotiations with its creditors.

Farfetch Ltd: The entity that used to operate an online retail business was ordered wound-up by the Cayman Islands Court in March 2024. Farfetch had EUR 1.8bn debt outstanding before the company sold its operations through a UK pre-pack administration in late January 2024.

TalkTalk Telecom Group Ltd: The telecom provider announced on 12 August that it had agreed with its creditors on certain restructuring terms, including extending the maturity of its due-November 2024 revolving credit facility and due-February 2025 secured notes, while its shareholders will provide the company GBP 170m in new funding. The company, which had around EUR 1.8bn debt, launched a bondholder identification process in October 2023.

SGS Finance plc: The shopping center owner and manager completed in April 2024 a scheme of arrangement to restructure its EUR 1.5bn debt stack. SGS Finance kickstarted the scheme process in January 2024 by issuing a Practice Statement Letter and then failed to repay at maturity GBP 808.5m debt that came due on 31 March.

Germany

Germany ranked second in terms of the number of new mandates, with 41 new mandates that involved EUR 7.8bn debt. Among the 11 German situations, only two involved more than EUR 1bn debt:

Tele Columbus AG: The fibre optic network operator completed a UK scheme of arrangement in March 2024. The scheme plan includes maturity extensions for its EUR 1.1bn debt stack and a EUR 300m capital contribution from major shareholder Kublai. (See Debtwire’s scheme profile for more details)

Meyer Werft GmbH: The shipbuilder has agreed with its work council and trade union on key points of a restructuring plan, as per a 4 July news article. Meyer Werft, which has EUR 1bn debt outstanding, has appointed a Chief Restructuring Officer, as per a 15 April news article.

Top advisors 

Kirkland & Ellis won the most mandates among law firms in 1H24 with 14. These situations involved EUR 22.3bn in debt, which was also the most of any firm. Kirkland’s biggest engagement came from advising Luxembourg-based metal and glass packaging provider Ardagh Group on a liability management exercise for the company’s EUR 9.7bn debt stack. Milbank came second to Kirkland both in terms of new mandates as well as the amount of debt advised on (9 mandates/EUR 5.4bn debt).

Among financial advisors, Rothschild received the most mandates with 12, while Lazard came second with 10. In terms of the amount of debt advised on, Lazard was first with EUR 33.9bn, thanks in large part to its role with Altice France.