Business restructuring
We can help you with business restructuring including:
Solvent liquidations
A solvent liquidation or members’ voluntary liquidation (“MVL”) is a statutory procedure governed by the Insolvency Act 1986 which takes a solvent company through to its ultimate dissolution. MVLs are often overlooked but can be a very useful procedure in the right circumstances, for example dealing with special purpose vehicles that have reached the end of their lives, companies that have ceased trading or companies that are surplus to requirements.
There are many benefits that can result, including:
- saving management time to allow resources to be concentrated on ongoing trading activities
- the prompt return of cash to shareholders
- simplification of corporate groups, resulting in lower annual audit and tax charges, and
- the creation of tax efficiencies and resulting financial savings
Our Restructuring & Recovery Services team includes a number of professionals with significant experience of dealing with solvent liquidations. Our approach is heavily focused on meeting our clients’ requirements and concluding the MVL process as quickly and as efficiently as possible.
Demergers
The option to carry out a demerger is increasingly being favoured by companies looking for new ways to realise value from their assets. Prime candidates are conglomerates with distinct activities and few synergies, whose public profile presents a confused picture to investors. Critical factors in realising value include a highly motivated management team and effective project management of the separation process.
We can help you ensure that the business case for a demerger is robust, the financial structure is tax efficient, and that an effective plan for separation has been developed.
Corporate simplification
A group structure may over time become overly complex. This commonly arises as a result of mergers and acquisitions or transfers of business and assets between group companies. The consequent waste of management time that can arise in dealing with unnecessary corporate governance and accounting for inter-company transactions can be significant.
A project with an aim of simplifying a corporate structure will involve a cross-discipline team from Corporate Tax as well as Restructuring & Recovery Services teams. This is to ensure that, from the outset of the restructuring, tax efficiencies are identified and the crystallisation of any unwanted tax liabilities is avoided. The implementation of the restructuring in the majority of circumstances involves members’ voluntary liquidations and occasionally creditors’ voluntary Liquidations to both facilitate the restructuring and to hasten the dissolution of surplus group companies.
Managed exits
When a company has come to the end of its useful life (for instance a special purpose vehicle whose purpose has been achieved, a trading company that intends to cease trading or an international group that wishes to close its UK subsidiary), we can assist in providing interim management to wind down the business with a view to maximising the return to stakeholders at the same time reducing any latent risks.
Our involvement can commence from the early planning stage and project management of the whole exit process as well as later in the formal aspect of acting as liquidator in the solvent winding up which can be a very useful exit management procedure.
For more information contact a member of the team.
