Restructuring

Ripples from a shaken Wall Street have spread around the world, creating enormous uncertainty in international financial markets and a new global economy defined by diminished liquidity. Traditional sources of debt financing have dried up, pushing a growing number of businesses into distress—and severely damaging creditors’ balance sheets in the process. Lenders and borrowers alike face the daunting task of managing intertwined and often cross-border financial relationships in the most challenging economic times in recent memory. These extraordinary conditions also provide exceptional opportunities for distressed investors. O’Melveny counts among its ranks some of the leading insolvency lawyers in the world, who are able to work with clients involved in virtually any aspect of a restructuring matter—whether it be a company facing financial distress, significant creditors of a troubled company or an investor looking for the opportunity to purchase a distressed business or certain of its assets.

O’Melveny’s Restructuring Practice boasts more than 60 finance and restructuring lawyers resident in key financial centers on the East and West Coasts of the United States and in the increasingly important Asia market. We have a more than 80-year history guiding creditors, committees, debtors, and financial investors through complex restructurings and bankruptcies, from Great Depression-era proceedings to reorganizations and workouts for some of the bubble-era’s highest flying tech companies, including WorldCom, Enron, Excite@Home, and Global Crossing. Our long track record has earned us a place as a market-leader for some of the industry’s largest and most complex transactions. We currently represent Escada in their global restructuring efforts, with lawyers in our New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and London offices all working to effectuate the sale of Escada’s individual businesses, including through a US bankruptcy proceeding. We are also acting as global corporate and restructuring counsel to Singapore-based Asia Pulp & Paper in its restructuring of debt—an undertaking that has been described as the largest-ever emerging markets restructuring and one of the most complex workouts ever undertaken in any market. On the domestic front, we represent Gottschalks, Inc., a retailer with 56 stores in 6 Western states, in their Chapter 11 case, quickly securing US$125 million in debtor-in-possession financing for the company.

Chambers and Partners describes us as a “sophisticated and high-quality practice,” and our team as “exceptionally logical and commercially oriented.” Some of the biggest names in commerce and finance turn to O’Melveny in their most challenging times and when the stakes are at their highest. And for nearly a century, for clients in virtually all industries, geographies, and contexts, O’Melveny’s Restructuring Practice has demonstrated exceptional creativity and vigorous advocacy in preserving and maximizing economic value.

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