Sidley Austin
The Sidley Austin restructuring team operates across both debtor and creditor sides, and has recently played a key role in some of the largest restructurings within the Chinese real estate sector. The firm’s advisory reach extends across diverse industries, encompassing domains as varied as cryptocurrency, medical, and dental facilities. Alongside involvement in sizeable debtor-side mandates, the team has recently also expanded its creditor-side practice, now encompassing acting for White Knights and rescue financing providers. Leading the helm is Gordon Davidson, whose offshore background enhances the firm’s offerings in the Asia region. Davidson’s adept representation spans high-profile restructurings in addition to diverse debt restructuring cases concerning various Chinese developers.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Sidley Austin has a strong relationship with corporate clients and has been the legal advisor in many schemes of arrangement during the recent PRC real estate industry collapse. It is not exaggerated to say that Sidley Austin has dominated the schemes of arrangement matters.'
- 'Rich field experience based on successful deals.'
- 'Definitely a standout team in terms of being involved in almost all of the material offshore debt restructurings of recent times.'
- 'Gordon Davidson is an excellent practitioner who has a deep knowledge of the intricacies that inevitably attach to complex multi-jurisdictional debt restructurings. He is incredibly responsive and also has a good eye for a commercial outcome for his clients.'
- 'The team takes the lead in the restructuring of Chinese real estate bonds and is far ahead. The team has led the legal work on some of the industry's largest restructuring transactions and completed them as quickly as possible.'
- 'The team works closely and efficiently across disciplines and regions, providing timely feedback to clients and proposing creative solutions.'
Key clients
- China Fortune Land Development
- Modern Land (China) Co., Limited
- Rise Sun Real Estate Development Co., Ltd
- China Evergrande Group
- Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd
- Fantasia Holding Group Company Limited
- Sunac China Holdings Limited
- Guangzhou R&F Properties Co., Ltd.
- Logan Property Group
- Zhenro Properties Group Limited
- Ting Chuan (Cayman Islands) Holding Corporation
- Kien Huat
- Zhongliang Holdings Group Company Limited
- Dafa Properties Group Limited
- Shunsun Holdings Group
Work highlights
- Advising China Evergrande Group on the highly complex potential restructuring of US$20bn of offshore debt.
- Advised Chinese real estate developer Modern Land (China) Co., Limited on the restructuring of its US$1.34bn offshore dollar-denominated notes.
- Advised Chinese property developer China Fortune Land Development on its restructuring of US$4.56bn in offshore debt by way of an English scheme of arrangement.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Gordon Davidson