Founder’s Experience

Stephen Phillips Lawyer

Stephen qualified as a solicitor in 1997 with Linklaters, in London, and spent five years in Singapore advising on project finance and corporate distressed mandates during the Asian Currency Crisis. Having moved back to London in the early 2000s he advised bondholders during the High Yield telecoms and energy market turbulence often using UK schemes of arrangement to implement a restructuring. During the Global Financial Crisis, he assisted funds, banks and corporates mainly in respect of their exposure to stressed leveraged finance / private equity structures. Stephen also advised on bank restructurings, and structured finance vehicles such as SIVs and CMBS. In the past few years, his focus has been energy-related matters, hospitality, construction and retail-related stress. He has also had a great deal of experience advising technology-related companies in prepacked administration sales. Stephen frequently advises investment funds, particularly in relation to special situations and creditor rights. More recently he has helped a number of founder directors who have faced personal claims arising from difficulties in the businesses they have founded.

Stephen was a partner at White & Case, for 8 years and more recently headed the European Restructuring team at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. He established Freilibertas Law in 2022 after a stint with a boutique barrister style solicitors’ practice. Stephen has been described by the Legal 500 as being “commercial” and as having “a deep understanding of cross-border matters”. He has won a number of industry awards for deals executed during his career and he writes for leading restructuring journals and newspapers.

Select experience 

  • Advised the ad hoc bondholders of British Energy plc in its restructuring through a scheme of arrangement

  • Advised the Industrial Union of Donbass on the restructuring of its US $ 3.5 billion of debt (pre-2014)

  • Advised Magyar Telecom BV, a holding company of Invitel ZRT, the Hungarian telecoms company, on its USD $425m of Notes through a scheme of arrangement

  • Advised the Senior Steering Committee in relation to the restructuring of the debt of CTL Logistics, the Polish freight logistics company

  • Advised Macquarie Bank in relation to the refinancing of its senior debt to Max Petroleum PLC

  • Advised Jefferies and its affiliates in connection with the restructuring and refinancing of Klöckner Pentaplast, one of the world's largest suppliers of plastic films

  • Advised the junior committee of bondholders which held a significant amount of lower-tier two bonds in government-owned, Bank of Ireland

  • Advised the Steering Committee of lenders in the restructuring of the debt of a holding company of one of the leading Kazakh banks

  • Advised the Steering Committee of Lenders on the restructuring of a US$3 billion loan to a holding company of Bawag PSK, one of Austria's leading banks

  • Advised Oy Sanitec (a leading European bathroom porcelain manufacturer) on the restructuring of its EUR 880 million senior facility and EUR 135 million second lien facility

  • Advised Nordic Capital on the restructuring of Thule, the car box company

  • Advised the committee of mezzanine lenders to Treofan, a German packaging company in a debt equity swap which enabled the mezzanine lenders to take control of the Treofan group

  • Advised UPM, a leading Nordic paper manufacturer, in relation to their intended purchase of the Myllykoski and Rhein Papier Group

  • Advised a leading UK investment bank on its EUR 800 million exposure to a German property company

  • Advised the Trustee of Afren plc in the attempted restructuring and subsequent administration of the Company

  • Advised search engine optimisation company Reach Local in its sale through a prepacked administration to a US Nasdaq listed corporate

  • Advised noteholders of Waste Italia in a proposed restructuring of its High Yield Notes

  • Advised board of Seadrill Partners to insulate it from liability during the restructuring of its shareholder affiliate

  • Advised Ocean Rig in its $4bn restructuring via a Cayman scheme of arrangement

  • Advised the boards of one of the UK’s leading renewable companies on various key decisions where there are minority partners in the corporate structure

  • Advised Emerisque Group, a UK based fashion brand in respect of its investments

  • Advised a director of a construction company defending claims from various stakeholders following a collapse of his company

  • Advising Sandton Capital in its takeover of a UK manufacturing business

  • Advised a hedge fund in its proposed investment in a litigation funding relating to a truck manufacturing cartel

  • Advised a hedge fund and a family office in respect of their debt investment into a UK oil plc

  • Advised a UK oil group to take over an oil company through a prepacked sale

  • Advised a hedge fund in a proposed investment in a UK distressed oil company

Stephen, a member of INSOL Europe, regularly writes articles and is quoted in the UK and international national media where he speaks on restructuring and insolvency matters