Corporate Restructuring & Workouts

Our Corporate Restructuring & Workouts Practice and its key members have been consistently ranked as industry leaders by international independent research houses and publications for many years. In 2021, Global Restructuring Review has identified us as one of the world’s top 30 restructuring practices. We have been featured in the elite GRR Top 30 rankings for four consecutive years.

With over 30 lawyers, our team is one of the largest dedicated restructuring practices in the country. Our lawyers have a very diverse skill set, spanning dispute resolution, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and finance. This equips us to deal with the complex issues that arise in workouts, the rehabilitation process, and solvent reorganisations. Our experience includes the divestment of non-core assets, distressed mergers and acquisitions, and debt trading under LMA rules. Our unparalleled strength in litigation also means our clients are represented by some of the most formidable advocates in Asia. 

The Corporate Restructuring & Workouts Practice stands out for its regional focus and cross-border capabilities. We have been involved in the major workouts in Indonesia for the past 10 years and they continue to make up a significant amount of our work. Most of our matters involve debt and equity securities quoted in Indonesia, Singapore, or the United States. Consequently, we are experienced with the capital market regulations and the bankruptcy codes of various jurisdictions such as the Indonesian PKPU regime and the United States Bankruptcy Code including exchange offers, liquidations, and restructurings under Chapters 7, 11, and 15.

Here are some of the major restructurings and workouts that we have been involved in:

Indonesian Restructurings

• APP’s US$ 14 billion - Advised on the debt restructuring of Asia Pulp & Paper, one of the world’s largest restructuring exercises, which involved about 150 subsidiaries worldwide including in China, Indonesia, Singapore, Europe, etc. Its creditors include the export credit agencies of various countries such as US, Japan, Germany and France, public and institutional investors, financial institutions and other government agencies. In addition, Sushil and Julian worked as part of a team that devised a scheme of arrangement sanctioned by the Courts of Bermuda that restructured some US$690 million of debt relating to APP’s China holdings. 


• Domba Mas’s US$ 2 billion - Advised the Sawit Mas Group including its oleochemical arm, Domas Agrointi Prima, on its debt and corporate restructuring and sale of its palm oil plantations and oleochemical plants. The obligations to be restructured included debt in excess of US$600 million, and a US$2 billion off-take agreement with Proctor & Gamble.  The disposal required the consent of all stakeholders and resulted in the purchaser assuming a substantial part of the obligations of the Sawit Mas Group. 


• TPPI’s US$ 1 billion - Advised on the restructuring of the Tuban Petro Group. The petrochemical group signed a comprehensive debt restructuring term sheet with its principal creditors, the Government of Indonesia, Pertamina and BPMIGAS in May 2011 and is in the process of implementing the terms of the restructuring. The Tuban Petro Group restructuring is considered by the Government of Indonesia to be the largest and potentially most successful restructuring in Indonesia.


• Berlian Laju’s US$ 2.5 billion - Advised on the worldwide debt restructuring of PT Berlian Laju Tanker Tbk. PT Berlian is a leading worldwide seaborne liquid cargo transportation specialist and one of the largest chemical tanker operators in the world.  Its fleet of over 100 vessels comprises chemical tankers, oil tankers, gas tankers FSOs and FPSOs. The company is listed on both IDX and SGX. The total debt of the company is estimated at over US$2 billion.  As PT Berlian has assets and operations all over the world, its debt restructuring involves complex multi-jurisdictional legal and practical issues.


• Apexindo US$413 million - Advised certain hedge fund creditors who hold bonds by the Singapore incorporated holding company of PT Apexindo which are now in default. PT Apexindo is a major energy services company based in Indonesia principally engaged in providing oil, gas and geothermal drilling services. The restructuring will involve cross border insolvency issues relating to the giving of guarantees and security in Singapore and Indonesia as well as complex inter-creditor issues.

Chinese On-shore and Off-Shore Restructurings

• BGP CNPC - Advised BGP, the largest seismic exploration company in the world and a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, on a work-out and the restructuring of a shipbuilding contract involving a Korean shipyard.


• China Energy - Advised China Energy on a group re-organisation which will entail a merger with Jiutai Inner Mongolia which is estimated to be worth in excess of US$700 million.


• Sunshine Holdings - Advised the Singapore-listed and Henan-based property developer in the successful restructuring of its US$120 million syndicated loan and US$32 million convertible bonds.


• Sino-Environment - Advised certain creditors of Sino-Environment Technology Group which has defaulted on its obligations under its S$149 million bond issue. The advice includes developing strategies for the creditors in connection with the disclosure by the company that certain questionable cash transactions and matters which may have a significant impact on the financial position of the company have occurred.


• China Hongxing - Acted for this Singapore listed S-Chip company and leading sports brand in the PRC which is engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of an extensive range of sports footwear and sale of a wide range of sports apparel and accessories via an extensive distribution network spanning the PRC, Middle East, Southeast Asia, South America, Europe and Russia. Our engagement is to assist the Special Auditor which has been appointed to carry out a thorough investigation into certain irregularities raised by the Company’s auditors in the cash and bank balances, accounts receivables, accounts payables and other expenses during the audit of the Company’s subsidiary companies in the PRC as well as to advise on the appropriate measures to be adopted by the group to safeguard its assets, continue its operations and enhance values for all its stakeholders.

A comprehensive deals list is available on request.

Practice Areas

• Workouts
• Debt Restructuring
• Liquidation
• Judicial Management
• Bankruptcy
• Receivership
• Corporate Reorganisations
• Distress M&A
• Cross-Border M&A

Accolades