US Law Firms Bring Distressed Debt Swap Playbook to Europe

Distressed debt deals that pit creditors against each other are set to catch on in Europe, according to Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, the Los Angeles-based lawfirm.

“You’re getting the same lawyers and bankers hired in Europe for deals that they do,” in the US, said Scott Greenberg, the firm’s global chair of business restructuring and reorganization. “So it’s not surprising that they would potentially roll out a playbook that’s worked.”

Liability-management exercises have boomed in the US as private equity owners exploit lax legal wording on debt terms to force through company refinancing deals that keeps them afloat ...