Simon Clarke
Simon Clarke

Simon Clarke

Partner

London

+44 20 7859 1722 | +44 7710 333 439
Simon.Clarke@ashurstperkins.com

Introduction

Simon works across the full spectrum of restructuring situations, advising creditors, debtors and other stakeholders of businesses in a form of stress or distress

Simon Clarke's practice focuses on all aspects of corporate and financial restructuring and formal insolvency procedures, with particular experience acting for banks and private credit funds on consensual debt restructurings, contingency planning exercises, security enforcement and distressed disposals. Simon has a wealth of experience in situations where companies are in a form of stress or distress including in structuring forbearance for debtors navigating those financial difficulties, but also in then acting for insolvency officeholders on all aspects of their appointments, including on structuring and implementing business and asset disposals for circumstances where a consensual outcome is not implementable.

Simon has completed a 10-month secondment at key client, Lloyds Banking Group, working in the its Business Support Unit which includes 7 months in a business role, managing a portfolio of distressed names with a focus on private equity backed businesses

  • Various banks on large bilateral and syndicated exposures| Regularly acting for the restructuring and work-out teams at various banks on a variety of complex restructurings (including new money injections, covenant resets, comprehensive balance sheets restructurings), contingency planning exercises and insolvency processes with distressed borrowers in a wide range of sectors, including entertainment, utilities, commercial real estate (including a listed REIT), retail, leisure and hospitality, construction, manufacturing, automotive and travel. Particular focus area has been acting for those banks on transactions where the banks provided super senior funding and the private credit fund, that is senior lender has taken the keys and is seeking waiver of mandatory prepayment on change of control from the super senior lender.
  • Syndicate of lenders to a housebuilder | Advising a syndicate of clearing banks on the restructuring of a £250 million RCF to a private equity owned housebuilder, including complex structuring issues as a result of substantial remediation liabilities of the borrowing group under the Building Safety Act 2022, resolving operational issues caused by counterparty reaction to late filing of audited accounts and in a complex multistakeholder negotiation on terms for a maturity extension with milestones for a refinancing.
  • Aspers Casino | Advised the company and its board of directors on the consensual financial restructuring of its term and working capital facilities (provided by Pricoa and Barclays respectively) and subsequently advised the joint administrators (from FTI) on administration of Aspers Casino including the pre-administration sale process and pre-pack administration share sale of Aspers Stratford Casino in Westfield to Genting.
  • Private credit fund | Advising the direct lending team at a leading private credit fund in relation to a number of transactions involving the consensual restructuring of existing facilities, including to a healthcare communications business and the provider of creative arts education. Both businesses were experiencing financial covenant compliance issues and potential new money liquidity needs, requiring a relaxation or renegotiation of certain covenants - including with cooperation from the super senior lender in each structure - as well as new equity injections from the respective sponsors.
  • Credit Suisse/UBS | Acting on the proposed restructuring and subsequent sale of their back leverage position secured over a £445 million whole loan collateralized by a multi-use trophy central London real estate operating asset.
  • Cross-border real estate share pledge enforcement | Acting for the senior lender to a large office building in Brussels on a Luxembourg share pledge enforcement to sell the underlying Propco to a third party in repayment of all existing senior debt.
  • Matalan | Acting for Teneo as administrators of a holding company in relation to the pre-pack administration of the shares in the group to its first lien lenders.
  • Flybe | Acting for EY as Joint Administrators of Flybe, Europe's largest regional airline at the commencement of the administration, on all aspects of its administration process, including on a variety of disposals of business and assets and various court applications, including to disapply the prescribed part.

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