Restructuring and distress advisory
We advise businesses under financial or creditor pressure, and the shareholders of those businesses, on the options that remain available to them.
A business under pressure has fewer options each week, and the options that disappear first are the ones that preserve the most value for shareholders. The purpose of engaging an adviser early is not optimism. It is that a solvent outcome, where one exists at all, exists only for a limited period, and identifying it requires an accurate view of the position rather than a hopeful one.
We are engaged to establish what is actually available — to the company, to its shareholders, and to its creditors — and to execute it while it remains available.
What we do
An independent assessment of the financial position, including a short-term cash forecast that management and lenders can both rely on.
Accelerated sale processes, where a transaction must be completed on a timetable set by liquidity rather than by preference.
Sales of businesses, divisions or assets out of a distressed position, structured to address successor liability and to give a buyer sufficient certainty to transact.
Negotiation with lenders and creditors on rescheduling, standstill arrangements and consensual restructuring, including where a facility has been transferred to a third party.
Balance sheet advisory: new capital, shareholder recapitalisation, or a combination of a partial sale and a refinancing.
What we do not do
We do not act as insolvency practitioners and we do not accept appointments in formal insolvency proceedings. Where a formal process becomes the appropriate route, we will say so and will work alongside the licensed practitioner appointed. We do not act for lenders against a company we advise, or against a company we have advised within the preceding twenty-four months. We do not advise on the priority or enforceability of security, which is a matter for counsel.
When owners and boards call us
A covenant breach, actual or foreseeable. A facility that cannot be refinanced on its existing terms. A creditor demand or the threat of a winding-up petition. A shareholder unwilling or unable to inject further capital. A business that remains operationally sound but is carrying a capital structure that no longer fits it.