Akin Gump Advises Ad Hoc Group of Noteholders on $4 Billion Noble Corporation plc. Restructuring

(London) – Akin Gump has acted as English law and international antitrust counsel to an ad hoc group of priority guaranteed noteholders in relation to the financial restructuring of U.K. offshore drilling contractor Noble Corporation plc’s. $4 billion of debt. The restructuring closed on February 05, 2021.

In July 2020, Noble Corp. and certain of its subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas, with a restructuring support agreement backed by the company’s major creditors, including the ad hoc group of priority guaranteed noteholders.

The restructuring reduces the company’s debt from approximately $4 billion to less than $450 million and includes a debt for equity swap, new debt issuances, corporate and tax reorganization and merger control approvals implemented via joint Chapter 11 cases and concurrent cross-border implementation steps.

Akin Gump worked alongside Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP in New York to advise the ad hoc group of priority guaranteed noteholders in connection with the restructuring. Ducera Partners LLC acted as financial advisor.

The Akin Gump team was led by London financial restructuring partner James Terry with financial restructuring counsel Jakeob Brown. They were supported by competition partner Davina Garrod and counsel Sebastian Casselbrant-Multala, tax partners Stuart Sinclair and Sophie Donnithorne-Tait and tax counsel Serena Lee, international trade partner Jasper Helder and corporate partner Vance Chapman and senior counsel Tony Barnes.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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