Dhevine Chandrapala

DHEVINE CHANDRAPALA has experience in cross-border restructurings advising sponsors, debtors, creditors, and strategic investors on restructurings of stressed and distressed businesses in particular across European and Asian situations. Dhevine also advises private equity and credit houses, hedge funds, and investment banks in their review and diligence of European and Asian investment opportunities in par, stressed, and distressed transactions.

Dhevine has received recognition from numerous industry rankings:

• Legal 500 UK 2026 – Recommended for Corporate Restructuring & Insolvency, where sources comment that he is “exceptional—commercially astute, highly responsive, and consistently calm under pressure.”
• Legal 500 UK 2021-2025 – Recommended for Corporate Restructuring & Insolvency, where clients have noted Dhevine for his “strong practical, commercial edge” and “being very easy to work with.”
• Global Restructuring Review (GRR) 2024 – Included as part of the team that won Asia Practice of the Year.
• IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2024 – Included as part of the team that won “Restructuring Team of the Year.”
• Legal Business Awards 2023 – Included as part of the team that won the “Restructuring Team of the Year.”
• FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Europe 2021 – Included as part of the lead team that won “Most innovative Lawyers in Restructuring.”

Dhevine has completed a Masters in Finance at London Business School, where he was the president of the LBS Turnaround Management & Restructuring Club, and HKUST Business School. Dhevine was awarded “Student of the Year” at LBS in 2023 and was previously a research assistant to Professor Florin Vasvari (Chair, Accounting Faculty) at LBS.

Prior to joining Sidley in 2017, Dhevine trained at another international law firm where he gained experience in private equity M&A, leveraged finance, commercial and bilateral investment treaty arbitration, and restructuring.

Recent examples of Dhevine’s work include representing:

• Shimao Group Holdings Limited on the restructuring of its US$11.5 billion in offshore debt.  The restructuring is being conducted in parallel with bilateral restructurings of certain other offshore debts outside of the scope of the scheme totaling US$2 billion. This deal is one of the largest China real estate restructurings and was named a “Deal of the Year” by China Business Law Journal 2024.
• 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.
• Coupang, Inc. in the completion of its acquisition of the business and assets of Farfetch Holdings plc via a pre-pack administration.
• H.I.G. Capital in respect of the restructuring of its portfolio, Cabonline Group Holding AB, the largest taxi network in the Nordics, which operates in Sweden, Norway and Finland, with respect to its financial indebtedness owed to a consortium of Nordic and international institutional investors.
• Adventure Success Limited, a subsidiary of Shimao Group Holdings Ltd., one of the largest Chinese real estate developers, on the successful closing of (i) senior loan facilities of HK$10.3 billion to replace its original syndicated project loan facilities and (ii) junior loan facilities of approximately HK$1.1 billion and Hong Kong dollars equivalent to approximately US$77 million to replace certain existing loans borrowed by other members of the Shimao group, both provided by United Overseas Bank Limited (as arranger).
• Recharge Industries, a portfolio company of Scale Facilitation, on its acquisition of certain assets of Britishvolt out of administration.
• The Learning Network, a leading educational services provider in the Netherlands and Belgium, on the completion of its sale to Dutch investment company, Intersaction and its associated restructuring.
• Global Loan Agency Services on:
  • the restructuring of Nynas AB, a Sweden-based oil refinery business;
  • the restructuring and refinancing of Royal IHC;
  • on the restructuring of BARTEC, a German manufacturer of explosion safety equipment;
  • the sale of Young’s Seafood Limited, one of the UK’s leading producers and distributors of seafood, to Karro Food Group.
• ACPS Automotive, a technology and market leader in towbars/hitches for cars, SUVs, and vans, on the completion of its financial restructuring.
• Travelex on its financial and operational restructuring.
• A key creditor in relation to the insolvency of British Steel.
• The financial advisor and key creditors in relation to the financial restructuring of Nyrstar NV. 
• RDL Realisation plc, a premium-listed investment fund, on its proposals to accelerate the repayment of the Zero Dividend Preference Shares issued by its subsidiary, RDLZ Realisation plc (RDLZ).  
• Famar on the successful restructuring, recapitalization, and strengthening of its capital structure. 
• Wentworth in relation to the Waterfall II Application, which concerns various issues relating to the distribution of the surplus in the LBIE estate.
• The Harkand Group, an Oaktree Capital subsea global services group to the oil and gas industry, in relation to its financial and operational restructuring.

*Some of the above matters were handled by Dhevine prior to joining Sidley.