Restructuring & demergers
Addressing legal issues which arise during corporate reorganisation or restructuring projects
Corporate reorganisation or restructuring projects often come with complex legal issues.
We have extensive experience working collaboratively with external tax advisers to implement projects that achieve our clients’ objectives in the most efficient way possible.
There are many reasons why a business may need to affect a corporate reorganisation or restructuring. Whether the demerger of business divisions as a precursor to a sale, the removal of dormant or excess companies from a group structure or a share buyback to allow a shareholder to exit. All are document intensive processes requiring careful planning and specialist legal advice.
Our clients range from UK-based SMEs looking to simplify their operational structures in preparation for investment, to large UK and international corporates carrying out multi-jurisdictional cross-border reorganisation projects.
Our areas of expertise include:
- Demergers
- Group simplifications
- Intra-group transfers including hive-ups
- Capital reductions
- Share buybacks in connection with shareholder exits
- Schemes of arrangement
- Share exchanges
- Distributions and strike offs
Our recent experience includes:
Advising France-domiciled Socomec, a specialist in the availability and control of low voltage electricity, on the merger of its two UK subsidiaries.
Advising WRc Plc on a corporate restructuring negotiated with the Pensions Regulator including the de-coupling of WRc’s pension deficit from its trade and assets and the agreement of a pension deficit payment deferment programme.
Advising on the three-cornered demerger of a specialist adhesives and semiconductor business into two separate companies, followed by the sale of one of these to a US-domiciled purchaser.
Advising on the hive-up of the business and assets of a regional technology business as part of a wider group simplification project in preparation for investment.
Our specialist lawyers.
