Corporate, Investment and Insolvency Disputes

We represent corporates, investors, directors, shareholders, financial institutions, high-net-worth individuals and family offices in disputes going to the heart of corporate control and investment value. We have deep experience in post-M&A disputes, shareholder litigation, partnership breakdowns, fund management disputes and corporate insolvencies. We advise on disputes involving crypto assets, fund collapses, valuations and distressed exits. 

Our substantial team of specialist litigators is regularly instructed on high-stakes cases that involve significant commercial and reputational risk. We work with public and private companies, funds, investors and asset managers, as well as liquidators, administrators and receivers, and directors, partners and corporate officers. 

We regularly appear in international litigation before the English courts, and in international commercial arbitrations. We frequently act alongside leading firms in the US and other jurisdictions to deliver a seamless approach to complex international disputes involving multiple parallel proceedings. 

Our approach combines our strength in litigation with our deep understanding of the drivers affecting corporates and how investments are structured, financed and managed. We are naturally collaborative, working closely with our colleagues across the firm including in Corporate, Private Capital, Financial Regulation and Tax, to provide seamless and fully-integrated advice – whether in or out of court. 

We regularly advise on:

• post-M&A disputes, including warranty and indemnity claims;
• shareholder and boardroom disputes, including unfair prejudice petitions and derivative claims;
• issues arising in joint ventures, LLPs and partnerships;
• breach of duty and misfeasance claims against directors and officers;
• corporate fraud, misrepresentation and rescission;
• insolvency litigation, including wrongful trading, preferences and transactions at undervalue;
• enforcement of security and intercreditor disputes;
• fund-related claims, including disputes over LP and GP obligations;
• insolvency office-holder investigations and statutory powers;
• complex cross-border insolvency, including recognition and discovery; and
• reputationally sensitive corporate investigations and regulatory fallout.

Work highlights include:

• acting for Travelport Limited a fintech business in a speedy trial relating to the operation of a Material Adverse Effect clause as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic in a Share Purchase Agreement;
• representing a private equity client on substantial and complex accounting warranty claims, including alleged fraud. Matter included an investigation into gross misconduct by senior executives and the exercise of bad leaver provisions on their exit;
• advising a private equity fund LLP on the defence of a High Court claim for breach of confidence, fraudulent misrepresentation and conspiracy arising out of a corporate transaction through which our clients acquired the assets of two businesses following a prepack administration process. Losses claimed stand at £150m;
• defending a claim for breach of fiduciary duties arising out of alleged diversion of corporate interests connected to two limited partnerships, two companies and an LLP created for the pursuit of a joint venture worth potentially £2bn;
• acting for 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;
• successfully representing the appointed monitor of a restaurant chain defending a challenge to their appointment in the first case to consider the interpretation of CIGA 2020; and
• numerous mandates representing creditors and “Plan Co” in Part 26A Restructuring Proceedings, including representing junior secured creditors challenging the “Aggregate” Restructuring Plan.