Chris Mallon

Mr. Mallon works closely with the London finance, corporate, M&A and private equity teams, and the U.S. Corporate Restructuring Group.

His restructuring and insolvency credentials span cross-border reorganisations involving a number of jurisdictions, including England, the U.S., Ireland, India, Russia, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Poland, Germany, Holland, Italy and Luxembourg. His clients have included Enron, Global Crossing, WorldCom, Loral, Telewest, Parmalat, Eurotunnel, Gate Gourmet, British Vita, the Tele Columbus Group, Torm A/S and Excel Maritime Carriers.

Mr. Mallon’s extensive corporate restructuring experience includes advising, among others:

• Roust Trading Limited in a US$550 million restructuring involving the exchange of two series of loan participation notes issued by Russian Standard Finance S.A., which were used to fund related loans to Russian Standard Bank, an indirect subsidiary of Roust Trading Limited, in favour of new notes issued by a new subsidiary. This is the first time that an English Scheme of Arrangement has been used to implement the restructuring of a Russian bank’s debt in order to address its capital adequacy issues;
• TORM A/S, a shipping company in Denmark, in its US$1.4 billion financial restructuring via an English scheme of arrangement (the first time Danish governing law has been changed to English law to affect a scheme of arrangement, and the first time an English scheme of arrangement has been applied to a listed Danish company); and in connection with its earlier multibillion-dollar out-of-court restructuring;
• the conflicts administrator of Nortel Networks SA (NNSA) in relation to the allocation proceedings in North America, in particular in relation to the division of the US$7.3 billion held by JPMorgan in New York on behalf of the U.S., Canadian, EMEA and NNSA estates, together with other ancillary entities;
• Nautilus Holdings Limited, a container ship leasing company, in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York;
• Warwick Capital Partners as part of the senior creditor committee in connection with the proposed debt restructuring of Punch Taverns plc, an owner of pubs;
• Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd., an owner and operator of dry bulk carriers, and 37 of its wholly owned subsidiaries, in a pre-negotiated Chapter 11 proceeding in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York;
• Seat Pagine Gialle S.p.A., a publisher of business directories, in connection with its filing for a composition with creditors for the restructuring of its senior secured bonds and debt facilities;
• Exide Technologies, a manufacturer of lead-acid batteries, in its voluntary Chapter 11 case filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. In connection with the filing, Exide entered into a US$500 million cross-border debtor-in-possession financing supported by guarantees and collateral security from non-U.S. subsidiaries in more than 10 countries;
• Travelport, a provider of online travel services, in a comprehensive out-of-court restructuring of US$2.1 billion of debt. This transaction was named as the 2013 Out-of-Court Restructuring Deal of the Year (Over US$1 Billion) at the 2014 M&A Advisor Turnaround Awards;
• the Tele Columbus Group in restructuring its debt by means of a debt transfer and debt-for-equity swap implemented via several schemes of arrangement. For its role in this transaction, Skadden received a “commended” ranking in the Financial Times’ sixth annual “Innovative Lawyers” report. Skadden also received the 2010 Best Legal Project award from German business publication PLATOW Recht;
• MF Global Holdings Ltd. and MF Global Finance USA Inc. in their Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York;
• Calyon in relation to ongoing negotiations with FGIC regarding settlement of transactions relating to the Rhineland Conduit;
• Carlyle in relation to Carlyle Capital Corporation Limited’s restructuring and renegotiation of its credit lines;
• Residential Capital LLC in connection with its financial restructuring;
• British Vita in relation to the restructuring of complex debt facilities for its operating companies; and
• various clients regarding their distressed investments arising in relation to the U.S. Chapter 11 filing by Lehman Brothers.

He also has advised other lenders with structured investment vehicles on issues arising out of the recent credit crisis in the subprime and related structured investment markets.

Mr. Mallon has been repeatedly selected for inclusion in Chambers Global, Chambers UK and Chambers Europe. He also is ranked at the very top of the Most Highly Recommended Individuals list for England in Who’s Who Legal: Restructuring & Insolvency 2016, in which sources commend his ability to “translate complicated situations into comprehensible and above all commercially aware language.”

Mr. Mallon writes and speaks frequently on insolvency and restructuring. After graduating from the University of Western Australia, he was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 1982 and as a solicitor in England in 1987.