Ashley Katz

Ashley Katz counsels clients in relation to all aspects of domestic and cross-border restructuring and insolvency matters.

Ashley’s clients include distressed investors, borrowers, directors, financial institutions, bondholders, and insolvency practitioners. Ashley’s extensive experience enables him to provide them with valuable advice on the full range of cross-border and UK restructurings and insolvencies, including matters in the automotive, manufacturing, real estate, construction, financial services, retail, telecommunications, and leisure sectors.

A regular lecturer on a range of restructuring and insolvency topics, Ashley’s thought leadership is prized on matters such as recent regulatory developments, cross-border insolvency, administration, anti-avoidance provisions, employment/insolvency law, directors' duties, and customer insolvency.

Chambers UK praises Ashley as “an absolutely outstanding restructuring practitioner,” a “problem solver,” and a “high-stakes legal fixer” who is “incredibly knowledgeable, knows the market and is incredibly bright.” Ashley is recommended by The Legal 500 UK as a leading individual in the Finance: Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency category (London) which joins in the commendations, describing Ashley as “highly knowledgeable, diligent, and very well respected” and an “outstanding restructuring and insolvency specialist.” They tout his pragmatic practice, calling him a “very experienced commercially minded lawyer who can work very well with other lawyers worldwide in multi-jurisdictional matters.” In addition, Expert Guides recognizes Ashley for insolvency and restructuring.

Representative transactional matters:

• Alteri Investors on its acquisition of Benson for Beds, Harveys Furniture, and their associated group of manufacturing companies from Steinhoff International and subsequent pre-packaged sale of Benson for Beds.
• Jack Wills, the apparel and luxury goods retailer, and the administrators from KPMG on the restructuring and pre-packaged sale of the business to Sports Direct.
• The administrators of CX Reinsurance Company Limited (in administration) from EY, including in relation to obtaining recognition of the administration proceedings in the US under Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code.
• A group of US-based landlords in relation to the restructuring efforts of the Arcadia group.
• Centerbridge, LP in its role as an anchor investor in a consortium that provided a US $1.08 billion capital investment in connection with the comprehensive restructuring of Seadrill Limited. This deal was awarded the “Restructuring Deal of the Year” at the Deal Awards 2019.
• The board of the Gaucho restaurant group on its restructuring activities.
• The board of the Powerleague group on its restructuring activities.

Representative contentious matters:

• Sberbank in a successful challenge against an application made to the High Court and the Court of Appeal by the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), pursuant to which the IBA sought an order for a permanent moratorium against creditor action in England and Wales, following the voluntary restructuring of the IBA in Azerbaijan (OJSC International Bank of Azerbaijan, Re [2018] EWCA CiV 2802).
• Ambac in successfully arguing that where disenfranchisement provisions are aimed at a party in a specified capacity, they will not apply where the party holds notes in a different capacity (Citicorp Trustee Company Limited v Barclays Bank plc & Others [2013] EWHC 2608 (Ch)).
• Pillar Securitisation Sarl on its successful application to have the appointment of the administrators of Kaupthing Capital Partners II Master LP declared invalid (Pillar Securitisation Sarl & others v Spicer & Shinners [2010] EWHC 836 (Ch)).