Kaye Scholer to Represent Convertible Bondholders in €4B Restructuring of IVG Immobilien AG

London: A large group of institutional investors, comprising mostly US and UK hedge funds, appointed Bankruptcy & Restructuring Partners David von Saucken and Paul Atherton in Kaye Scholer’s London office to represent them as convertible bondholders in the restructuring of IVG Immobilien AG. IVG is a German-listed public company with approximately 550 employees at 19 locations in major German and European cities. It manages assets totaling over €21 billion with a particular focus on real estate and infrastructure

IVG also constructs and operates underground caverns for the storage of oil and gas in northern Germany as an investment in the area of energy infrastructure. In the fund sector, IVG is a market leader for special property funds for institutional investors.

IVG’s total debt amounted to around €4.2 billion at March 31, 2013. At that time, IVG’s Board of Management announced a “holistic restructuring” aimed at all levels of its capital structure and would coordinate with all relevant stakeholders in the coming weeks. The anticipated restructuring will likely be the largest in the German market in 2013.

“Although Paul and I have been working on restructuring deals for longer than we care to remember, the Kaye Scholer restructuring brand in Europe is quite young. We are grateful to our clients for demonstrating their confidence in us. We very much hope we can build on this to take the European practice further towards where we want it to be,” said von Saucken.

Both von Saucken and Atherton have significant experience advising Anglo-American funds on German-related matters. Dual qualified in both the UK and Germany and operating out of both London and Frankfurt, von Saucken possesses strong technical know-how in Germany insolvency matters, including distressed M&A deals, restructurings and  non-performing loans.  He also counsels on debt and private equity investments in performing situations.

Atherton, who joined Kaye Scholer as a partner last September from Kirkland & Ellis, focuses on international insolvency and restructuring processes with a particular emphasis on cross-border matters and highly complex LBO restructurings. He also has a great deal of experience advising financial creditors in various distressed and turn-around situations, with a special focus on Germany as well as the UK.

Kaye Scholer’s Bankruptcy & Restructuring Department offers one of the most experienced teams of insolvency practitioners in the US. With more than 40 lawyers dedicated solely to restructuring and insolvency work, Kaye Scholer has advised on many of the large, complex US and multinational insolvencies and restructurings arising from the recent credit crisis. Our clients include lender groups, syndicate agents, distressed investors, equity sponsors and their portfolio companies, debtors, indenture trustees, fiduciaries and creditor committees.