Overview

Corvane Ryle's Restructuring practice advises companies, lenders, creditors, sponsors and investors facing financial stress or looking for opportunity in it. We act in chapter 11 cases in the United States, in schemes of arrangement and restructuring plans in England and Wales, and in the insolvency processes of continental Europe and Asia.

Most of the work now happens before a filing. Companies with stretched balance sheets are using amend-and-extend transactions, priming and uptier exchanges, drop-down financings and rescue capital to buy time. We advise on these liability management transactions from every side, and we help lenders read documents so that their protections hold when they are tested.

When a court process is the right answer, we have the experience to run it efficiently. We have represented debtors, ad hoc groups, indenture trustees, committees and purchasers, including in cases that required coordination of proceedings across several jurisdictions. Retail and consumer companies, which face lease obligations, supplier pressure and changing demand, are a long-standing focus.

Our lawyers work closely with colleagues in Banking & Private Credit, Tax, Litigation & Trial and Capital Markets so that restructuring advice reflects the whole picture, including tax attributes, litigation risk and the securities law constraints on any exchange offer.

We also advise investors looking for opportunity in distress, including funds that provide rescue capital, acquire debt at a discount or pursue loan-to-own strategies, and we help them evaluate risk before they commit.

Naomi Feldspar, based in Chicago, leads the practice, with partners and associates including Marcus Delacroix-Hale in New York and colleagues in London and Frankfurt. We act for debtors, lenders and investors, including Oriole Pharmacy Group.

Key lawyers

Our restructuring team spans Chicago, New York, London and Frankfurt.

• Naomi Feldspar, Partner, Chicago
• Marcus Delacroix-Hale, Associate, New York

Representative experience

• Advised Oriole Pharmacy Group on an out-of-court restructuring of its secured debt.
• Represented an ad hoc group of noteholders in the restructuring of a specialty retailer.
• Advised a debtor in a prepackaged chapter 11 case that reached confirmation in under 60 days.
• Represented a lender group in negotiating a liability management transaction by a consumer brand.
• Advised a purchaser in a section 363 sale of a regional apparel chain's brand and intellectual property.
• Counseled a European manufacturer on a restructuring plan under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006.
• Advised a private credit fund on the enforcement of its security package in a cross-border default.