Latest news with #Restructuring
Business News Wales
22-07-2025
- Business
- Business News Wales
'Resilient' Welsh Businesses Remain Positive About Economic Outlook
Welsh business leaders have confidence in the strength of the economy and in the growth expectations for their own businesses despite high operating and people costs and the expectation of additional taxes later this year. Key indicators from Grant Thornton UK's latest Business Outlook Tracker show that business leaders are optimistic about the UK economy, with 86% of respondents expressing a positive outlook. While UK labour statistics in June reported falling vacancies and increased unemployment, recruitment investment intentions remain strong, with 96% of businesses expecting to either increase or maintain investment in recruitment over the next six months. Mid-market businesses regard high operating and staffing costs as a significant challenge, potentially exacerbated by the increases in employer National Insurance and National Minimum Wage contributions introduced in April. Among Welsh respondents, 52% said these changes had caused them to reduce or freeze hiring, and 42% said they'd had to cut jobs. The majority (66%) also expect further tax increases before the end of the year. Despite these pressures, businesses feel supported by government strategy and are optimistic about their future prospects: 68% of respondents agree government policy promotes economic stability. 78% agree government policy support business growth. 80% agree that the Industrial Strategy will support the growth of their business. 84% of the mid-market businesses expect revenue growth for the next six months to remain steady 64% expect profits to increase in next six months Alistair Wardell, Partner at Grant Thornton UK and Head of Restructuring in the South of England and Wales, said: 'Welsh businesses have learnt to treat uncertainty as the new normal. From steel and manufacturing to tourism and agriculture, companies across Wales are showing remarkable resilience despite ongoing challenges from trade disruptions to policy changes at home. 'That's not to say it's been easy. Welsh businesses continue to grapple with rising costs, particularly following the National Insurance and National Minimum Wage increases in April. Whilst there's cautious optimism about government direction, many expect further tax pressures ahead. 'What's encouraging is that Welsh businesses are actively preparing for growth, with recruitment intentions remaining strong. Companies are demonstrating real adaptability – adjusting pay structures, carefully managing prices, and making strategic investment decisions to protect their margins.'
Associated Press
08-07-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Finance & Restructuring Partner Miriam Lewis Joins Dorsey in New York
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 8, 2025-- Miriam Lewis has joined Dorsey & Whitney LLP as a Partner in the Finance & Restructuring group in New York, the international law firm announced today. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: Attorney Miriam Lewis has joined Dorsey & Whitney LLP as a Partner in the Finance & Restructuring group in New York. Miriam handles a variety of commercial transactions, including formation, equity and debt financings, term and revolving credit facilities, construction financing, mezzanine financings, real estate joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, dispositions, and general contract matters. Her clients include commercial banks, venture capital investors, real estate developers, private equity funds, tax credit financiers, and other senior and junior lending institutions, as well as emerging growth companies and other corporate borrowers. Miriam joins Dorsey from Shipman & Goodwin LLP, where she was a Partner. She is admitted in the State of Connecticut, where she is based, and is applying for New York admission. Miriam received her J.D. from University of Connecticut School of Law and her B.A. from University of Massachusetts. 'Miriam is an excellent addition to our Finance & Restructuring team,' said Eric Lopez Schnabel, Practice Group Co-Leader of the Finance & Restructuring group for Dorsey. 'Her dedication to delivering timely and cost-effective solutions will serve our clients well.' 'Dorsey's enterprising approach combines discipline and creativity to provide useful business solutions,' said Miriam Lewis. 'I look forward to contributing to Dorsey's outstanding team and to serving our clients.' About Dorsey & Whitney LLP Clients have relied on Dorsey as a valued business partner since 1912. With locations across the United States and in Canada, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region, Dorsey provides results-oriented, grounded counsel for its clients' legal and business needs. Dorsey represents a number of the world's most successful companies from a wide range of industries, including banking & financial institutions; development & infrastructure; energy & natural resources; food, beverage & agribusiness; healthcare & life sciences; and technology. View source version on CONTACT: MEDIA CONTACT: Carmen Ramson-Herzing 612.492.5194 [email protected] KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: LEGAL PROFESSIONAL SERVICES SOURCE: Dorsey & Whitney LLP Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 07/08/2025 01:47 PM/DISC: 07/08/2025 01:47 PM
Irish Examiner
26-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Legal guides to rescue or liquidation
Rising interest rates and patchy post-pandemic demand are driving more Irish companies into difficult territory. When the balance sheet tips, four statutory routes exist: examinership, the Small Company Administrative Rescue Process (SCARP), liquidation and receivership. Each route triggers a different playbook for owners, lenders and employees, yet the boundaries overlap. Choosing well and choosing early decides whether a firm re-emerges or disappears. Shane Harron, partner at Dillon Eustace. Shane Harron, partner, Restructuring, Insolvency and Commercial Litigation, Dillon Eustace, sketches the purpose of examinership: 'Examinership is a rescue mechanism for companies in financial distress that meet certain criteria. It is generally considered to be a successful and flexible process designed to allow companies to continue to survive difficult periods.' Court protection freezes creditor action for up to one hundred days while an independent examiner prepares a scheme of arrangement. Directors stay in charge day-to-day and work with the examiner on investment, cost cuts or debt write-downs. SCARP offers similar breathing space to smaller companies but avoids court hearings. David O'Connor, partner at BDO. 'Smaller companies will often prefer the newer SCARP process, because examinership is quite expensive,' says David O'Connor, partner with BDO, whose team prepares independent expert reports for both processes. The same insolvency practitioner acts from start to finish, which trims fees and shortens timelines. In 2024, thirty businesses used SCARP to restructure, according to EY partner Alan Large. Barbara Galvin, partner with William Fry. At the opposite end sits liquidation. 'Liquidation marks the end of a company's life,' says Barbara Galvin, partner with William Fry. A liquidator takes control, sells assets and distributes the proceeds down a statutory waterfall. Solvent liquidations close in under a year, but insolvent cases, from IBRC to Treasury Holdings, can run for a decade when litigation clogs the pipeline. Receivership is narrower again. Here, the secured lender, not the board, fires the starting gun. 'Receivership differs from examinership and liquidation in that it is a process initiated by a company's creditors to realise a secured debt,' Harron explains. Once the charged assets are sold and the lender repaid, the receiver's mandate ends, sometimes in weeks. Speed and Scope Examinership follows a strict clock: seventy days plus a possible thirty-day extension. During that moratorium, creditors cannot sue, appoint a receiver or seek liquidation. SCARP moves faster because it is out of court; the process adviser must file a rescue plan within forty-two days. Liquidation moves only as quickly as asset sales, creditor claims, and disputes allow. Standard solvent cases average six to nine months, but complex insolvent estates stretch far longer. Receivership aligns with asset disposals and often completes within two years. Control and creditor influence Directors retain operational control in examinership and SCARP, yet they do not dictate outcomes. The examiner or process adviser groups creditors into classes, and a majority in at least one impaired class must vote for the scheme. 'Creditor negotiation forms a crucial part of the process,' Galvin says. Once the court, or in SCARP, the process adviser, confirms the plan, dissenting creditors are bound. In liquidation, directors lose all authority on appointment. They also face forensic scrutiny of decisions taken in the run-up to collapse. Receivership sits between the two: directors may still trade the unencumbered parts of a business if the receiver is appointed over specific assets rather than the entire undertaking. Director liability in the insolvency zone Statute now requires Irish directors to prioritise creditor interests once insolvency is likely. Ignoring warning signs carries a personal cost. 'As soon as a company's directors become aware of its insolvency, they should take all necessary steps to preserve the assets of the company for the benefit of its creditors,' Harron says. Liquidators must report to the Corporate Enforcement Authority and, unless excused, bring restriction proceedings against directors of insolvent firms. Sanctions range from a five-year restriction on acting as a director to full disqualification or personal liability for reckless trading. 'There is no statutory obligation to place an insolvent company into liquidation, but directors should only continue to trade where they believe on reasonable grounds that the company can survive,' Large says. Cost and suitability Examinership's court involvement adds expense. O'Connor sees boards hesitate when legal and advisory fees could top €300,000. 'You need to be of a certain size to justify going into the examinership,' he says, pointing out that smaller firms owe far less and cannot fund the process. SCARP cuts that hurdle because one practitioner fills the dual role of independent expert and process adviser, reducing duplication. Despite the options, uptake among SMEs remains modest. 'The number of SMEs availing of SCARP and examinership is not very high,' Galvin says. She blames a lack of awareness and the stigma that any insolvency procedure equals failure. Large adds that many owners wait too long and erode the working capital needed for a viable rescue. Outcomes in practice History shows rescue can work. The Goodman Group examinership in 1990 restructured wartime debt and protected thousands of jobs in the beef industry. More recently, Big Mike's restaurant in Dublin used SCARP to prune debt and safeguard employment. O'Connor's team provided the independent expert report for a nationwide food chain that entered examinership this month. 'There is a requirement for an independent expert to show that if this company goes into examinership, then there's a high probability it will succeed,' he explains. The court accepted the report and appointed an examiner, opening a path to protect what O'Connor calls 'potentially significant' jobs. Large has watched investors step in after balance-sheet clean-ups. 'The process allows companies to continue with a clean balance sheet and facilitate new investments that are essential for safeguarding their future,' he says. Choosing a path No single test determines which option fits. Harron emphasises early diagnostic work: cash-flow modelling, creditor mapping and covenant reviews. Owners must weigh the probability of survival against liquidity, fixed-charge security and stakeholder appetite for compromise. Galvin underscores timing: examinership and SCARP require enough cash to trade through the protection period. Liquidation or receivership may be unavoidable if working capital has already evaporated. Creditors influence direction, too. A lender can pre-empt examinership by appointing a receiver the moment a covenant is breached. Conversely, a successful examinership can bind secured lenders if the courts are satisfied the scheme treats them fairly. Practical steps before a crisis hits Directors can shrink legal risk long before insolvency lawyers arrive. Harron recommends daily cash monitoring and tight board minutes that show decisions and advice taken. Galvin adds that accurate books and records are the best defence against subsequent restriction applications. Large tells boards to scenario-model each pathway while funds are still available: comparing examinership, SCARP, and liquidation costs clarifies the trade-offs and underpins talks with creditors or investors. O'Connor's experience is blunt. 'Sometimes a solution is, guys, you're at the end of the road, you need to go into liquidation,' he says, warning directors against compounding debt once insolvency is obvious. The bottom line Ireland's corporate insolvency framework offers genuine rescue tools alongside orderly termination routes. Examinership and SCARP can salvage viable enterprises if boards act quickly, secure fresh capital and engage constructively with creditors. Liquidation and receivership close a chapter but still demand disciplined governance to avoid personal fallout. The legal pathway is never chosen in the courtroom; it is chosen months earlier in board meetings where directors either confront the numbers or flinch from them. In a tightening credit cycle, that distinction will decide which Irish businesses live to trade another day and which do not.
Reuters
02-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
French state makes offer to buy part of Atos' former Advanced Computing unit
PARIS, June 2 (Reuters) - The French state has made a 410 million euros ($466.33 million)confirmatory offer to buy part of the former Advanced Computing business of tech company Atos ( opens new tab, said Atos on Monday. Once seen as a European tech champion, with a market value of more than 10 billion euros at its highest, Atos emerged from financial troubles in 2024 thanks to a restructuring agreement with its creditors. Atos said the French state's offer for its former Advanced Computing business was worth 410 million euros on an enterprise value basis. It added that its Vision AI businesses did not form part of the planned deal with the French government, and that Vision AI would be repositioned within Atos' Eviden business unit. ($1 = 0.8792 euros)
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
French state makes offer to buy part of Atos' former Advanced Computing unit
PARIS (Reuters) -The French state has made a 410 million euros ($466.33 million)confirmatory offer to buy part of the former Advanced Computing business of tech company Atos, said Atos on Monday. Once seen as a European tech champion, with a market value of more than 10 billion euros at its highest, Atos emerged from financial troubles in 2024 thanks to a restructuring agreement with its creditors. Atos said the French state's offer for its former Advanced Computing business was worth 410 million euros on an enterprise value basis. It added that its Vision AI businesses did not form part of the planned deal with the French government, and that Vision AI would be repositioned within Atos' Eviden business unit. ($1 = 0.8792 euros) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
