And it looks like a thriller. An oil company, listed in London and New York which is already feeling operational pain and financial strain sees a rig blow-up in the Niger Delta. With bonds, syndicated bank debt and locally secured bilaterals, the board is faced with the very practical problems of dealing with health and safety issues, environmental damage and creditor concern and pressure. For good measure, a host of other problems are thrown in, including difficulties with the communication strategy, concerns over improper director conduct and a serious shortage of cash.
The case study is going to be what the various panels discuss, dissecting the scenario into all the different legal, financial and social responsibility threads and looks well chosen.
Such events across a number of different business models, in particular natural resources and commodities, have been such a regular feature of so much Restructuring & Insolvency work over the last several years. How will the directors stabilise the situation? What will they be looking to achieve over the short, medium and longer term? How will they work out which restructuring regime is optimal to return the best value to stakeholders and in compliance with all their duties. Some of the following blogs will relay how the panels dissect the necessary considerations on a number of these areas. Great start for the conference.
