Akin Gump Advises on Restructuring Deal of the Year at the IFLR European Awards 2016

(London) – Akin Gump is pleased to announce it advised on the “Restructuring Deal of the Year” at the International Financial Law Review European Awards 2016 held in London on April 21, 2016. The award was for the restructuring of Kaupthing Bank following the Icelandic bank’s collapse in 2008.

IFLR’s awards are the “industry leader for rewarding legal innovation” in international finance.

Akin Gump has represented the bondholders (including investment funds, hedge funds, insurance companies, pension funds and banks) of more than $33 billion in bonds and other debt issued by the three major Icelandic commercial banks that failed in 2008—Kaupthing, Glitnir and Landsbanki—in all aspects of the restructurings of the failed bank estates.

The Akin Gump team was actively involved in all phases of the restructuring process on behalf of the bondholder group since 2008 and participated in the informal creditors’ committees set up by the three estates. Akin Gump, together with financial advisors to the three failed bank estates, led the consultation process with the Icelandic government that paved the way for the successful restructurings of the three estates pursuant to Icelandic law composition agreements. Akin Gump was also centrally involved in negotiating and documenting the composition arrangements with representatives of the three estates and their advisors.

The team advising the Kaupthing bondholders was led by Akin Gump London restructuring partner Barry Russell throughout the engagement. London litigation partner Mark Dawkins led the team advising on all litigation aspects of the restructuring. They were supported by restructuring partners Neil Devaney (London) and Fred Hodara (New York), litigation partner Abid Qureshi (New York) and tax partner Stuart Sinclair (London) and were supported by dozens of other lawyers around the firm.

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 attorneys in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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