About
Paul advises on a broad range of corporate restructuring and recovery issues across a range of sectors.
His clients include companies in financial difficulties, their directors and shareholders, insolvency practitioners appointed over such companies, lenders to and other major creditors of troubled entities, investors interested in a “loan-to-own” strategy and buyers of businesses where there is an insolvency aspect both domestically or internationally.
Paul has acted for clients across a range of sectors including transport and logistics, retail and hospitality, insurance, entertainment, professional services and construction. Paul’s experience also includes a secondment at a special situations investment firm. Paul is a qualified insolvency practitioner, having passed the Joint Insolvency Examination Board examinations in 2013.
Paul has particular expertise with restructuring plans under Part 26A of the Companies Act, having acted for plan companies, challenging creditors and boards of directors in relation to such plans.
Paul is the co-author of the Insolvency and Restructuring Manual, 3rd Edition, published by Bloomsbury Professional Ltd, the "England" chapter of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Corporate Recovery & Insolvency 2020 and the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020, also published by Bloomsbury Professional Ltd.
Experience
- Acting for Independent Builders Merchant Group on its restructuring plan under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006.
- Advising Dobbies Garden Centres, the UK’s largest operator of garden centres, on its restructuring plan under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006 and related amendments to its debt facilities with Ares.
- Advising global fashion brand, Superdry, on capital and restructuring measures which included the first Part 26A restructuring plan used by a company on the main list of the London Stock Exchange.
- Advising the challenging bondholders in relation to the “Aggregate” restructuring plan.
- Acting for the directors of Consort Tameside Plc on its restructuring plan.
- Advising Buzz Group, the UK’s biggest omni-channel bingo business, on a restructuring process by way of a CVA, the injection of new equity and a debt restructuring.
- Advising Epiris on the acquisition of Casual Dining Group from its administrators.
- Advising the administrators of Onto (the electric car leasing business).
- Advising the administrators of Volta Trucks.
- Advising the monitors of the moratorium under Part A1 of the Insolvency Act in respect of Corbin & King Restaurants, which included successfully defending the first challenge made in court in respect of a moratorium process.
- Advising a credit fund on the restructuring of a borrower in the consumer insurance sector, which resulted in the fund taking ownership.
- Advising a credit fund client on the consensual handover of the shares in a nationwide logistics business by its sponsor.
- Advising PGL on its acquisition of the business and assets of the Kingswood group out of administration.
- Advising the administrators of Affiniti Finance, the litigation funding firm.
- Advising Better Capital in relation to the "loan-to-own" acquisition of Jaeger.
- Advising administrators on the pursuit of complex allegations against former, shadow and de facto directors for breaches of fiduciary duty, diversion of corporate interests and fraud.
- Advising the sponsor of a national chain of bars in connection with its financial restructuring, which included new money facilities and a conversion of certain existing liabilities to equity.
- Advising a leading alternative investment firm on the acquisition and restructuring of a portfolio of loans secured over shipping vessels.