Sidley Austin LLP

Now headed by the ‘very knowledgeable’ Kieran Sharma, following the departure in November 2024 of Jifree Cader and Mark Knight to Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Sidley Austin LLP maintains a solid practice for debtors and creditors both domestically and in a cross-border context. On the company side, the team continues to work closely with colleagues in Hong Kong, helping to restructure the offshore debt of beleaguered Chinese real estate companies, including in some instances through the means of a UK restructuring plan. The strengthening of the firm’s London sponsor-focused leveraged finance practice in October 2024, following the recruitment of a high-profile team from Latham & Watkins (London) LLP, is also expected to elicit debtor mandates for distressed portfolio companies. In addition, Sharma’s own buy-side experience, having worked in-house at a major global investment firm, is beneficial to clients on opportunistic credit solutions.