Restructuring
Sidley’s global Restructuring group is a recognized market leader in handling large-scale, cross-border restructuring and insolvency matters throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific. With offices located in key business centers around the world, we represent a variety of stakeholders — including debtors, private equity sponsors, lenders, creditors, and committees — in complex, cross-border restructurings.
Sidley is ranked among the leading restructuring practices in the U.S. and globally by Chambers USA 2025, Global Restructuring Review 2024, Chambers UK 2025, Chambers Europe/Germany 2025, and Chambers Global 2025. The firm was named “Restructuring Team of the Year” at the 2023 Legal Business Awards and “Restructuring Team of the Year” at the IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2025.
Showcasing extensive expertise on both the debtor and creditor sides, Sidley Austin is described as ‘experienced and effective’ when handling cross-border restructurings, primarily concerning companies’ offshore debt.
Legal 500 2025 – Hong Kong - Restructuring and Insolvency
Ranked among the prestigious GRR 30 — the world’s leading law firms for cross-border restructuring and insolvency according to Global Restructuring Review — our team is at the forefront of many industry-defining matters that are shaping the global restructuring market.
We are well-positioned to act for industry stakeholders across the capital structure, offering a deep understanding of the legal and commercial nuances that are inherent in international restructuring and insolvency regimes. Our ability to quickly assemble coordinated teams from across Sidley’s multidisciplinary practice areas allows us to yield innovative solutions that preserve and maximize value, protect jobs, and drive consensus with stakeholders.
Sidley Named “Restructuring Team of the Year”
IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2025
Experience
Select representations of our cross-border experience include the following.
- Represented Jervois Global Limited, an Australia-headquartered global supplier of advanced manufactured cobalt products with mining and refining operations, and certain affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases filed on January 28, 2025 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
- Successfully obtained confirmation of Ebix Inc.’s Chapter 11 plan from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas.
- Advising Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. (HKEX: 1638, Kaisa), a leading Chinese real estate developer, in its restructuring of approximately US$12.3 billion in offshore debt. This is the largest offshore debt restructuring of a Chinese real estate company that has been sanctioned to date.
- Represented Sino-Ocean Group Holding Limited on the successful restructuring of its approximately US$6 billion offshore debt. This landmark project is the first restructuring of a Chinese real estate group to be implemented under an English Restructuring Plan. The restructuring was implemented using a Part 26A RP in the United Kingdom and an interconditional and partially overlapping scheme of arrangement in Hong Kong.
- Represented Shimao Group Holdings Limited (HKEX: 0813, Shimao), a Shanghai-based leading real estate developer, on the restructuring of its offshore debt in the aggregate principal amount of approximately US$11.5 billion.
- Represented Vietnamese real estate developer No Va Land Investment Group Corporation (No Va Land), one of the largest listed real estate developers in Vietnam, in the successful restructuring of its Singapore Exchange-listed (SGX), New York law governed offshore US$300 million convertible bonds.
- Represented Zhongliang Holdings Group Company Limited on the successful restructuring of its approximately US$1.2 billion of offshore debt.
- Represented Sunac China Holdings Limited (Sunac) in the restructuring of its US$10.2 billion offshore debt. The complex transaction was implemented through a scheme of arrangement in Hong Kong, which was sanctioned on October 5, 2023, and parallel Chapter 15 recognition proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. It is the largest offshore restructuring transaction completed by a Chinese property group as of the end of March 2025 and it achieved both the highest supporting rate and the highest deleveraging ratio of recent offshore schemes in this sector. The deal was named as “Deal of the Year” by China Business Law Journal in 2024 and recognized as the “Restructuring Deal of the Year” by IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2024. The deal also won the “Asia-Pacific Restructuring” award at International Financing Review’s IFR Awards 2023 and the “Turnaround Deal” award at the IFR Asia Awards 2023.
- Represented Coupang, Inc. (Coupang), one of the world’s leading global retailers, in the completion of its acquisition of the business and assets of Farfetch Holdings plc (Farfetch), in a rescue deal through an English pre-pack administration process.
- Represented Modern Land (China) Co., Limited, a real estate developer focused on the development of eco-friendly residences in the People’s Republic of China, in the restructuring of its US$1.34 billion offshore dollar-denominated notes.
- Represented a group of financial industry leaders with over US$600 million of loans made to Samarco Mineracão S.A., a Brazilian producer of iron ore pellets and a joint venture between Vale and BHP. In 2015, one of Samarco’s tailings dams broke. This matter involved significant and novel international law issues spanning the U.S., Brazil, and Japan.
- Represented China Fortune Land Development Co., Ltd. in the complex restructuring of its US$4.96 billion of offshore debt. Jurisdictions involved include England, the Cayman Islands, and China.
- Represented Travelex on the completion of its financial and operational restructuring, reducing its secured financial indebtedness from over £385 million to £160 million.
- Represented GLAS in financial list proceedings related to US$1 Billion restructuring of the Galapagos Group seeking declaratory relief to validate the c. US$1 billion multi-jurisdictional financial restructuring of the Galapagos Group.
- Represented The Learning Network on the completion of its sale to the Dutch investment company, Intersaction and its associated restructuring.
- Advised Merced Capital on the financial restructuring of the Telford Offshore Group.
- Represented Global Loan Agency Services Limited and GLAS Trust Corporation Limited on the restructuring of the financial indebtedness of, and the granting of new security by Nynas AB, a Sweden-based oil refinery business.
- Represented RiseSun Real Estate Development Co., Limited and its subsidiaries in the restructuring of the group’s offshore dollar-denominated notes. RiseSun is one of the first real estate debtors in the region to complete its restructuring.
- Represented Guangzhou R&F Properties Co., Ltd. on the restructuring of its 10 series of U.S. dollar-denominated notes with an aggregate outstanding principal amount of approximately US$4.9 billion.
Recognition
Sidley is widely recognized by clients and peers alike as first-in-class for its cross-border capabilities, garnering top rankings and awards around the world.
IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2025
“Restructuring Team of the Year”
“Restructuring Deal of the Year” – No Va Land offshore debt restructuring
Financial Times’ FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Asia Pacific 2024
“Innovative Lawyers in Restructuring”
Law.com International – Asia Legal Awards 2024
“International Law Firm of the Year”
“Restructuring and Insolvency Matter of the Year” - China Evergrande Group’s US$300 billion restructuring
Global Restructuring Review, GRR 100 2024 Edition
Recognized Among Top Four Restructuring Practices Worldwide
“Asian Practice of the Year”
IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2024
“Restructuring Team of the Year”
“Restructuring Deal of the Year” – Sunac debt restructuring
China Business Law Journal Awards 2024
A “Firm of the Year” – Restructuring & Insolvency
Awarded “Deals of the Year” for the following matters:
- Evergrande's debt restructuring
- Kaisa's offshore debt restructuring
- Shimao Group's debt restructuring
- Sunac’s US$10.2 billion offshore restructuring
- Zhongliang Holdings' debt restructuring
2023 Legal Business Awards
“Restructuring Team of the Year”
International Financing Review’s IFR Awards 2023
Winner of the “Asia-Pacific Restructuring” award
Winner of the “Turnaround Deal” award