A&O Shearman excels in cross-border restructuring and insolvency matters, advising on key options such as U.S. Chapter 11 reorganisations, UK and Spanish schemes of arrangement, pre-packaged sales, and debt-for-equity swaps. Clients have praised these capabilities, emphasising that the firm’s ‘extensive international network is also very useful for matters with transnational elements.’ The client roster comprises domestic and international lenders and investors, corporates, governments, banks, hedge funds, and other financial institutions. The team, lauded as ’committed, hard-working, honest and always willing to help and provide a solution‘, is jointly led by the ’exceptional‘ Javier Castresana, who advises on Spanish schemes and debt restructurings; Jimena Urretavizcaya, who focuses her practice on restructuring, leveraged finance, and real estate finance matters; Juan Hormaechea, an expert in structured finance, acquisition financing, and equity derivatives; and Ignacio Ruiz-Cámara, who brings extensive experience in restructurings within the renewable energy and infrastructure sectors.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Team with great capabilities and very efficient. They have been collaborative, transparent, greatly facilitating the smooth development of the process at all times. It has been a pleasure for me to work with them. It was a process in which there were different debt instruments, ICO, Bonds, currency... and different profiles of creditors and they were able to organise all the debt by applying the new Reform of the Bankruptcy Law, with successful results.’

  • ‘People are what makes this team outstanding. Committed, hard-working, honest and always willing to help and provide a solution, in addition to being great professionals with a very deep knowledge of the Bankruptcy Law Reform. I highlight Javier Castresana.'

  • ‘Professionals with a deep level of knowledge and a very empathetic and close attitude and way of working, absolutely focused on the client's needs. One of its differentiating factors is this closeness to the client and spirit of collaboration. Its extensive international network is also very useful for matters with transnational elements.’

  • ‘Javier Castresana is an exceptional professional, standing out both for his depth of knowledge and for his way of being.’

  • ‘One of the strong points is being very practical when approaching the issues to be discussed.’

  • ‘Team highly specialised in bankruptcy and commercial law and with a great vocation for client service.'

  • ‘The Allen & Overy team stands out for its experience in restructuring in Spain. Not only in relation to technical and theoretical issues, but also practical aspects, which makes them able to focus on what is truly important to successfully carry out operations. In addition, their network of contacts in the industry is very broad, which allows them to contrast points of view quickly.’

  • ‘Experience, ability to separate what is important from what is accessory, extensive network of contacts in the industry. The work of Javier Castresana within the team stands out.’

Key clients

  • Banco Santander
  • Mediapro
  • Oquendo Capital
  • Pryconsa
  • Davidson Kempner
  • CaixaBank
  • Bain Capital
  • BBVA
  • Banco Sabadell
  • Carval
  • Bank of America
  • Deutsche Bank
  • Sareb
  • Farallon

Lawyers

Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Javier Castresana, Jimena Urretavizcaya, Juan Hormaechea, Ignacio Ruiz-Cámara

Other key lawyers

Sofía Sánchez-Calero