Ferdinand Hengst

Ferdinand is a Corporate Partner and specialises in international debt restructuring, corporate recovery and emergency funding strategies. His broad practice encompasses both high-stakes finance deals and insolvency-sensitive transactions or litigation, but always in a cross-border context.

Ferdinand is trusted advisor to boards of directors on their corporate governance, fiduciary duties and liability considerations around funding and scenario planning in a more stressed environment.

Ferdinand is a Fellow of INSOL International and a member of INSOLAD. He regularly publishes on restructuring and insolvency, leveraged financing and corporate recovery. Ferdinand heads our Africa practice and is a member of the firm’s Diversity committee.

Ferdinand’s recent work includes advising:

• Pan-European high street retailer HEMA on its EUR 750 million bond restructuring, including negotiations, court proceedings in UK, US and the Netherlands and a parallel M&A process, resulting in a 60% debt reduction
• Shareholders to IHC Merwede, one of the Netherlands’ largest shipping companies, on a debt restructuring, new money injection and debt-for-equity
• Restructuring of ENNIA Caribe, the largest insurer in the Netherlands’ Antilles, including the (unprecedented) recognition of the Curacao emergency regulation (noodregeling) under US Chapter 15
• Brazilian giant Oi Telecom on its restructuring and Dutch court litigation, including of the EUR 3.8 billion notes issued by its Dutch financing vehicle
• Isolux Corsán on the consensual restructuring of its debt, including a debt-for-equity swap, using Dutch court proceedings and a US chapter 15 process
• A variety of debtors in the gaming, casino, theatre and travel sectors on the impact of COVID-19 and closures, including emergency funding, covenant waivers, and liability management
• Royal Imtech with its restructuring, several refinancings, and strengthening of its balance sheet after the discovery of a massive fraud; the largest Dutch restructuring and bankruptcy in the Netherlands to date