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Restructuring & Insolvency

We have a high-performing Restructuring and Insolvency team, which has many years of practical experience dealing with complex restructurings at all stages of crisis. In addition, we advise companies on all legal and economic consequences that result from having business relations with companies which undergo an economic crisis or against whom insolvency proceedings have already been instituted.

Working together with our clients, we develop tailor-made restructuring approaches that take both the stage of the crisis and the interests of the relevant stakeholders adequately into account. In doing so, our restructuring experts benefit from the advantages of belonging to a full-service law firm and work from the start consistently in teams that are made up of well-proven and recognised specialists and, therefore, combine all case-specific legal and industry know-how. As a result, our clients do not only benefit from our restructuring and financing expertise, but also from our industry expertise, which has been developed by special industry groups over many years. We can perform the following measures at very short notice, taking into account all industry-specific regulations and customs: moratoriums and standstill agreements, reorganisation financing and debt rescheduling, debt-to-equity swaps, corporate restructuring and corporate finance transactions (e.g. transformations, spin-offs, hive-downs, carve-outs, distressed mergers and acquisitions, new capital interests, including from the area of venture capital), restructuring within the context of structured insolvency proceedings with or without the debtor in possession and with or without an insolvency plan.

Our Restructuring and Insolvency team assists you at very short notice when your contract partner is in crisis, on the verge of insolvency or has already become insolvent in order to ensure that this situation does not lead to economic difficulties for your own company. If we are timely called in when the insolvency of a contract partner emerges, we can keep the financial losses for your company to a minimum. In the event of a contract partner’s insolvency, the (preliminary) insolvency administrator should be dealt with in a target-oriented manner, in particular when enforcing security interests (rights to the separation and recovery of assets and rights to the separation of assets for the purposes of preferential satisfaction). In addition, a focus must continuously be on preventing and, subsequently, defending against unjustified rescission claims.

Our range of advisory services

Providing comprehensive and timely reorganisation and restructuring advice (corporate law, employment law and insolvency law)
Close cooperation and consultation with audit firms/tax advisors in preparing reliable budgets
Advising on reorganisation through insolvency proceedings
Developing strategies for how to prevent having to file for insolvency, for example, by means of subordination agreements or letters of comfort
Advising on the use of alternative financing instruments

Assisting with the drafting of the application to institute insolvency proceedings
Providing comprehensive advice on the risks involved for the managing directors/shareholders and providing an assessment of these risks
Advising on the insolvency administrator’s claims (if any) against the managing directors/shareholders
Reducing the criminal consequences (if any) for the managing directors/shareholders to a minimum
Advising on the reorganisation of the company through an insolvency plan
Assisting with preparatory measures for protective proceedings with the debtor in possession
Preparing and carrying out protective proceedings
Drafting a detailed and complete insolvency plan (consisting of the descriptive part setting out all the information needed to make a decision as to whether to approve the insolvency plan and the constructive part setting out how the legal position of the parties involved will change as a result of the insolvency plan)
Assisting with the implementation of debtor-in-possession proceedings

Structuring transactions
Carrying out legal due diligence reviews
Advising investors on the acquisition of a company prior to and after the institution of insolvency proceedings against this company
Advising the insolvency administrator/shareholder/managing director on how to best carry out reorganisation proceedings (“reorganisation by transfer”) with a view to continuing the company or parts of the company
Advising administrators on the enforcement of justified rescission claims

Advising on all corporate law issues when a company is in crisis

Providing comprehensive advice on the risks involved for the managing directors/shareholders and providing an assessment of these risks
Advising on the insolvency administrator’s claims (if any) against the managing directors/shareholders
Reducing the criminal consequences (if any) for the managing directors/shareholders to a minimum

Advising on how to deal with corporate purchasers and suppliers that are insolvent or in crisis
Drafting supply contracts, general terms and conditions, framework agreements, etc. taking into account the risk of insolvency
Providing comprehensive, competent and – above all – quick help upon a contract partner becoming insolvent
Providing creditor coaching in the event of insolvency proceedings, for example, if a creditor is a member of the creditors’ committee
Advising creditors on their defence against unjustified rescission claims

Reducing the criminal consequences (if any) for the managing directors/shareholders to a minimum
Preparing, and representing clients in, negotiations with the investigating authorities
Representing clients in criminal proceedings (if any) in criminal insolvency, balance-sheet or tax law proceedings

Advising companies, banks and other financial creditors, and shareholders during a debtor’s crisis and insolvency
Assisting with the negotiations with financial creditors and/or the debtor
Advising on refinancing transactions, reorganisation loans, corporate actions, debt-equity swaps
Advising on the restructuring of bonds
Advising on how to implement a double trust

Planning and implementing restructuring and outsourcing concepts
Advising on terminations, the conclusion of cancelation agreements, and representation in proceedings aimed at obtaining protection against unfair dismissal
Drafting and negotiating social compensation plans and reconciliation-of-interests agreements
Devising variable working time and remuneration models for employees

Restructuring near-insolvent companies
Devising tax structures for transactions of companies in crisis

Real estate law

Advising on how to deal with corporate purchasers and suppliers that are insolvent or in crisis
Drafting supply contracts, general terms and conditions, framework agreements, etc. taking into account the risk of insolvency
Ensuring reliable supplies in the event that the contract partner is in crisis or insolvent

Acting as the central contact for all aspects of the legal implementation of national and international reorganisations and/or transactions
Setting up an international team of lawyers. For this purpose, we can draw on a group of appropriately experienced lawyers from more than 70 jurisdictions
Developing a legal project plan that contains a detailed description of all the required legal steps and outlines all processes clearly and in accordance with your needs
Central budget planning, monitoring and invoicing for all lawyers
Ensuring the transparency of all draft agreements by means of uniform documentation
Monitoring the timely implementation in accordance with the project plan

News

Ein Mann mit einem blauen Hemd steht an einem Tisch und hält seine Hände in einer abwehrenden Position. Vor ihm befinden sich zwei Stapel Münzen, die durch ein Holzzeichen „W“ getrennt sind. Das Bild vermittelt eine Botschaft über finanzielle Entscheidungen oder Strategien.

17.10.2025

Termination in the event of insolvency: Why standard insolvency-dependent termination clauses often fail and how they can be made effective

Ein hölzerner Richterhammer liegt auf einem runden Podest. Der Hintergrund ist unscharf, zeigt jedoch Stapel von Akten oder Büchern. Der Hammer symbolisiert rechtliche Entscheidungen und die Autorität des Gerichts.

28.07.2025

“Silence means defeat” – On the secondary burden of demonstration in contestation proceedings Judgment of the Federal Court of Justice of 6 March 2025 – IX ZR 209/23

Three medical professionals in white lab coats walk together down a well-lit hospital corridor. Their backs are to the viewer as they proceed along a smooth floor, flanked by large windows that allow natural light into the space.

02.07.2025 Press Release

Protective shield proceedings: Luther advises hospital group "Pfeiffersche Stiftungen" on merger with Magdeburg University Hospital

18.06.2025 Blog

Preservation of loss carry-forwards despite acquisition of more than 50% of the shares

A busy indoor space filled with blurred figures of people engaged in conversations. The background features large, colorful walls and a bright ceiling, suggesting a lively atmosphere, possibly an event or gathering.

04.04.2025

New owner found for former Karstadt branch in Bottrop

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Key Contact

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Gunnar Müller-Henneberg

Partner

T + 49 711 9338 24760

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Team Restructuring & Insolvency

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May Htet Htet Aung
Associate
Yangon

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Dr Jürgen Bremer
Partner
Dusseldorf

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Kerstin Belovitzer-Franz
Counsel
Stuttgart

Leon Breiden
Associate
Cologne

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Dr Thorsten Becker
Partner
Frankfurt a.M.

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Salvatore Calcagno
Counsel
Stuttgart

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Christina Göbel
Senior Associate
Hamburg

Dr. Guido Hoffmann, LL.M. (Cornell)
Partner
Dusseldorf, Frankfurt a.M.

Dr Benjamin Hub
Partner
Hamburg

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Dr Hans-Peter Hufschlag
Senior Associate
Hamburg

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Ann-Marie Jüttner
Senior Associate
Stuttgart

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Oliver Köhler
Partner
Frankfurt a.M.

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Christiane Kühn, LL.M. (Hong Kong)
Partner
Munich

Johannes Klink
Associate
Munich

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Mathieu Laurent
Partner
Luxembourg

Martin Liebenow
Counsel
Bangkok

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Mathis Lorenzen, LL.M. (Stellenbosch)
Senior Associate
Stuttgart

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Katharina Müller-Ehrlichmann, LL.M. oec.
Partner
Cologne

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Gunnar Müller-Henneberg
Partner
Stuttgart

Paul Mey
Associate
Frankfurt a.M.

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Dr Boris Ober
Partner
Cologne

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Partner
Stuttgart

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Caroline Risse
Senior Associate
Berlin

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Christoph Schauenburg, LL.M. (London)
Partner
Frankfurt a.M.

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Partner
Hamburg

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Dr Björn Simon
Partner
Frankfurt a.M.

[Translate to English:] Dr. David von Saucken, MJur (Oxon)

Dr David von Saucken, MJur (Oxon)
Partner
Berlin, London

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Hannah-Laura Schütte
Senior Associate
Stuttgart, Dusseldorf

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Dr Elisabeth Sechtem
Senior Associate
Munich

Niko Schmitt
Associate
Dusseldorf, Stuttgart

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Volkan Top
Senior Associate
Hamburg, Frankfurt a.M.

Christina Tsitiridis
Senior Associate
Dusseldorf

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Denis Ullrich
Partner
Leipzig

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Thomas Weidlich, LL.M. (Hull)
Partner
Cologne

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Reinhard Willemsen
Partner
Munich, Cologne

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Artur Winkler
Counsel
Hamburg