"Henry Davis York has taken a lead in hard economic times. It has been involved at a strategic level in many of Australia's major collapses and the practice is praised for having a deep network in the banking sector".
Asia Pacific Legal 500, 2010
Henry Davis York is consistently ranked as Australia's leading restructuring law firm. Our recent experience and market leading transactions speak for themselves.
Babcock & Brown
Babcock & Brown was one of Australia's largest investment banks, with a market capitalisation in excess of $10 billion at its peak. It had a very complex structure, with thousands of entities and assets spanning across Australia, Asia, the US and Europe. We acted for the banking syndicate comprising a large number of Australian and foreign lenders on the restructure of debt facilities of approximately A$3.2 billion. As the debt traded, the syndicate continued to evolve and now consists mainly of distressed and special situation funds. We continue to provide ongoing strategic and general advice on this restructure, including the sale of the assets and the winding down of the business.
Centro Properties Group
Henry Davis York advised several major international funds on their senior debt holding in Centro Properties Group acquired through the secondary market. Centro Properties Group is one of Australia's largest and most complex real estate investment trusts. The restructure has involved a number of major restructures of various headstock debt facilities and we have provided strategic advice to our clients on their senior debt exposures to the Central Properties Group.
I-Med
We advised the mezzanine syndicate of 15 hedge funds and special situation institutional clients based in Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and Sydney, on the restructuring of their $300 million exposures to medical imaging group, I-Med. Our lawyers advised on all aspects of this complex and multi-faceted transaction which included the implications under the Corporations Act of the value proposition of the I-Med group restructure, the syndicate's contractual rights and strategic legal advice in the restructuring negotiations with all stakeholders.
ABC Learning Centres
ABC Learning Centres has been one of the largest and most complex receiverships in Australia's corporate history. As lawyers for ABC Learning Centres' banking syndicate and receivers we have advised on a unique restructure of ABC's core business prior to its sale along with a number of cross-border issues. We have also provided general advice to the banking syndicate and on examinations conducted by the administrator/liquidator.
Octaviar Limited liquidation
We act for the liquidators of Octaviar Limited, a publicly listed company that was one of the first major Australian corporations to collapse due to the global financial crisis. Octaviar is a significant and complex liquidation which involves operations in Australia, New Zealand, Dubai and investments in the USA, Ireland, Germany and the Cayman Islands in a diverse range of industries including managed funds, aged care, tourism and the child care sector. At its peak, the Octaviar Group had over 400 companies and $5.2 billion in funds under management.
Colorado Group
Henry Davis York advised the majority of senior lenders to the Colorado Group on a dispute with another lender concerning inter-creditor rights. Our clients included local and foreign banks and hedge funds. We provided strategic advice to local and foreign banks and a hedge fund. We provided strategic advice to our clients on the proper construction of the contracts to resolve the dispute in favour of the senior lenders. This eliminated the need for protracted litigation, which could have derailed the anticipated restructure of the Colorado Group.
Sunshine Electricity
Henry Davis York is acting for the senior lenders to Sunshine Electricity, a joint venture between a subsidiary of Delta Electricity and the New South Wales Sugar Co-operative, which owns and operates green energy power generators.
Alinta Energy Restructure
The restructure of the Alinta Energy group was one of Australia's largest and most complex. We advised one of the larger secondary senior debt holders on its exposure to the Alinta Energy group. This included strategic advice on their senior debt holding, the potential leverage held by stakeholders including other debt providers and guidance on the proposed restructuring alternatives.
AET&D
Henry Davis York advised a syndicate of seven banks on their exposure to the AET&D group which held significant interests in major gas and electricity infrastructure and assets around Australia. This included strategic advice on the restructure and ultimate sale of the secured assets.
Forest Enterprises Australia Limited
Henry Davis York advises two major Australian banks owed $230 million dollars by the FEA Group, which collapsed in 2010. The collapse involved multiple forestry managed investment schemes and very substantial agricultural managed investment schemes.
Fly Leasing
We advised the Australian vendors in the sale to Fly Leasing of a US$1.4 billion portfolio of aircraft leased to 'flag carrying' global airlines. We provided our clients with advice on all aspects of the transaction including vendor due diligence, negotiating the sale and purchase agreement and strategic advice on various transactional challenges thrown up by the diversity of the stakeholder base.
PBL Media
Henry Davis York acted for a group of senior debt holders providing advice on the proposed restructuring of the PBL Media debt and capital injection by CVC.
Reliance Rail
We act for creditors of Reliance Rail on their exposure to the Waratah Train PPP. The project has been at the forefront of public interest and due to its complex structure and political relevance, our clients have required strategic advice within the complex documentation matrix.
Mining Matters
We have had significant engagements on mining transactions for individual special situations funds and ad hoc committees including Sons of Gwalia, Henry Walker Eltin, Lafayette Mining, Southland Coal, Tamaya Resources, Pasminco, Apex Minerals, Brandrill, Griffin Coal, Ravensthorpe and Sinom Investments.
Non-public investments
We have also advised on many non-public distressed investments, in a diverse range of industries including agriculture, managed investment schemes, financial services, energy, infrastructure, entertainment and communications.