Cross-border team advises secured lenders in successful Altera Chapter 11 restructuring

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright represented the Coordinating Committee of Secured Lenders and Agents (CoCom) in the restructuring and emergence of Altera Infrastructure L.P. from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 6, 2023.  

UK-based Altera Infrastructure L.P. is a leading international midstream services provider to the oil and gas industry, supplying critical infrastructure assets to its customers primarily in offshore regions of the North Sea, Brazil, and the East Coast of Canada.

Altera commenced Chapter 11 proceedings on August 12, 2022 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court confirmed Altera’s pre-arranged plan of re-organisation on November 4, 2022.

Norton Rose Fulbright partner Eleanor Martin, who co-led the team advising CoCom, said:

“This was a large and complex restructuring, spanning multiple jurisdictions. We are delighted that this restructuring has now successfully concluded and that there is a stable structure in place for future growth.”

The CoCom is comprised of financial institutions and export credit agencies (ECAs) representing over $500 million in debt, secured by certain of Altera’s vessels. The financial institutions and ECAs include ABN AMRO Bank N.V.; Citibank N.A., London Branch; Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank; DNB Capital LLC; DZ Bank AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank, Frankfurt Am Main (as successor to DVB Bank SE); Eksportfinansiering Norge / Export Credit Norway (Eksfin) (as successor to Garanti-Instituttet for Eksportkreditt); National Australia Bank Limited; and The Export-Import Bank of Korea.

The multi-disciplinary, cross-border shipping and insolvency team representing CoCom was led by London partner Eleanor Martin, New York partner David Rosenzweig and Dallas partner Kristian Gluck. The international team included, among others, partner Yianni Cheilas in Athens; partner James Stonebridge, senior associate Olivia Cullen, associate Vicky Jeong, counsel David Metzger and trainee Simeon Pavlov in London, and paralegal Thomas Logan in Newcastle; senior counsel Francisco Vazquez in New York; senior counsel Jason Blanchard and associate Michael Berthiaume in Dallas; senior associate Julie Harrison in Houston; and partner Sue Ann Gan and associate Zara Ann Loh in Singapore; and partner Omar Salah, partner Wouter Hertzberger, counsel Mei Land Man and associate Rik van der Laan in Amsterdam. 

PJT Partners also advised the CoCom on the restructuring through its teams in London and New York.

Notes to editors:

1. Norton Rose Fulbright’s global restructuring lawyers advise on many of the most significant cross-border bankruptcy, restructuring and insolvency cases involving complex multi-jurisdictional issues and regional insolvency laws. The team acts for a full range of in all key industry sectors including: transport; energy, infrastructure and resources; consumer markets; financial institutions; life sciences and healthcare; and technology. With more than 50 offices in over 30 countries, the multilingual and culturally proficient 130+ strong team of restructuring lawyers have the experience to address issues posed by local laws and customs when cases cross borders.
2. In the transport sector, Norton Rose Fulbright recently represented a syndicate of lenders in the financial restructuring of subsea services provider DeepOcean Group, the first cross-class cram down using the UK Restructuring Plan; represented KfW IPEX-Bank as agent on the restructuring and subsequent insolvency of the Genting Hong Kong Group owner of luxury cruise brands Crystal Cruises and Dream Cruises; represented Philippine Airlines Inc as special aircraft  counsel on the first use by an airline of a pre-negotiated restructuring through a chapter 11; represented an ad hoc group of secured creditors on the US$6bn debt restructuring of the world’s largest regional aircraft leasing company, Nordic Aviation Capital DAC; represented LATAM Airlines Group S.A. as special aircraft counsel on its restructuring, the largest airline in Latin America; and currently represents Scandinavian Airline System (SAS) as special aircraft counsel in its chapter 11 case and the restructuring of its aircraft leases and financings.
3. Norton Rose Fulbright is ranked eighth in Global Restructuring Review’s annual list of the top 100 restructuring law firms for cross border restructuring and is consistently recognised in the leading legal directories, including Chambers & Partners and Legal 500, based on the feedback of clients and peers.
4. Amongst its recent restructuring awards, the firm has been recognised in the transport sector. This includes the 2022 IFLR Europe Restructuring Deal of the Year for the second year running for DeepOcean as well as Airfinance Journal’s 2021 Asia Pacific deal of the year and Airline Economics 2021 Asia Pacific Restructuring Deal of the Year for the Philippine Airlines pre-negotiated chapter 11.