Issue 11 2021

Acquisition International - Issue 11 2021 27 Creating the Structure Behind Restructuring As the ‘Leading Bankruptcy, Insolvency and Business Restructuring Lawyer of the Year’ for Greece, Serafim Sotiriadis & Associates Law Firm helps its clients find the format for its restructuring deals that a court will rule in favour of. With a comprehensive amount of knowledge regarding how to do this, its obligation as a restructuring firm is to capture the contracting party’s purposes whilst keeping each element of the case completely legally compliant. Sep21154 ith a good, well-rounded, and comprehensive knowledge base behind it, Serafim Sotiriadis & Associates is a law firm that makes itself an expert in offering sound, integrated solutions to legal and business issues. Fundamentally, it specialises in providing its services for professionals struggling with bankruptcy, business restructuring law, commercial, civil, corporate, and criminal law, working with a variety of Greek and international clients alike with its high-quality and high-tech services. In Greece, Rehabilitation Agreements – or restructuring laws – give debtors the chance to meet creditors in the flesh and negotiate the future of the companies in question, with changing paradigms making such meetings more and more possible over the years. Nowadays, even though creditors still maintain some of the strictness that has characterised them in the past, they also now are facing a current need to reduce their exposures from the non-performing loans, making themselves more flexible and open to negotiation as a result. This is especially true in cases where an investor is about to step into the company, and the parties may find themselves able to agree on all manner of things with the exemplary legal and advisory help of Serafim Sotiriadis & Associates, such as the alteration of terms of the debtor’s obligations, the disposal of the debtor’s assets, debt capitalisation, reduction of claims against the debtor, and the appointment of a supervisor during the restructure. In this manner, Serafim Sotiriadis & Associates helps to improve the success of the restructure at hand. Furthermore, it can help its clients navigate the murky waters of transferring the business to a third company – either in whole or in part – in order to allow the W restructure to take place on the transferred liabilities. Whether the third company is newly established or thoroughly secure in its own market, all relevant restricting law provisions apply in such a case, allowing the transfer of the preferred assets whilst leaving the rest in the old entity to be addressed separately. Whilst a client does have to make safe predictions for the repayment of the debt in the old entity, this mechanism has proven highly popular in Greece in the last two years of economic turmoil as it gives businesses the chance to reorganise and restructure with an additional safety net in place. It also has become popular amongst foreign investors, especially in cases where the exposure of the acquired entity it particularly large. Starting with the negotiations between debtors, creditors, and investors, Serafim Sotiriadis & Associates allows for total reorganisation ratified by the Greek courts, always ready to help with empathy and sensitivity in helping clients through their financial issues. It will always take the necessary time to negotiate, helping creditors through any reluctancy, and gently encouraging clients to seek restructure support as soon as possible. Although this may be difficult for SMEs, Serafim Sotiriadis & Associates assures them it that it will be worth it in the long run. Company: Serafim Sotiriadis & Associates, Law Firm Contact: Mr. Serafim Sotiriadis Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/serafim-sotiriadis-and- associates/?originalSubdomain=gr