2009 - the year of the CVA?

Welcome to our latest client update and much has happened since our last issue. Turbulent waters in the financial sector may have calmed a little, the undercurrent of the economic downturn continues to impact on businesses and we have seen a marked increase in the need for restructuring services in the mid-market.

"Hot" sectors change year on year and it will not surprise you when I say that property & construction, retail and automotive have been our busiest sectors since our last update. In addition our Special Situations Group has been busy advising corporates on how to deal with a rapidly changing agenda, particularly around cash and stakeholder management and how best to approach lenders for new or additional funding.

Our successful restructuring of JJB through a groundbreaking CVA is featured in this issue. The CVA had several critical issues to address and of particular interest is the use of the CVA process without the protection of an administration order or a share suspension - a first in the UK. Read the full details below.

Our Real Estate Advisory Service team, led by Mark Bayley, has recently been strengthened with Edmund O'Kelly joining us. Edmund has a wealth of real estate experience in both formal insolvency and restructuring situations and is already being kept very busy. Please see below to find out more.

We also cover in more detail how we have been working with corporates to meet the challenges of their "New Corporate Agenda". With changing times come changing priorities and many management teams are simply not fully equipped to deal with the challenges that the current marketplace is presenting.

I have also included several of our assignments from around the country which have interesting or unusual elements to them. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss any aspect of this update or other restructuring issues.