Restructuring & special situations
Advising companies that cannot pay their debts, or the lenders and investors in them, on how to fix the balance sheet.
Restructuring is what happens when capital structures break, liquidity crisis, EBITDA decline, covenant breach, or external shock. From that point it's a contest between creditor classes trying to minimise loss. The advisor's job is to navigate law, model recovery, and negotiate the waterfall.
Seniority is absolute. Super-priority (DIP, admin) gets paid first. Then senior secured (60–80% typical recovery), senior unsecured (40–60%), subordinated (20–40%), mezzanine (0–20%), and equity, usually nothing. The fulcrum security is where value runs out in the capital structure, and whoever holds it controls the negotiation. Find it by estimating going-concern EV and layering claims down until value is exhausted.
The 13-week cash flow model is the key diligence tool. It reveals the liquidity runway, weeks until cash goes negative, and that runway is the clock driving every deadline. Manipulated forecasts are common; trust bank statements over projections.
The toolkit spans out-of-court workouts (amend & extend, waivers, exchange offers, standstills) and in-court processes, US Chapter 11 with its automatic stay and DIP financing; UK schemes of arrangement requiring 75% by value and majority by number per class; German StaRUG; UK pre-pack administrations. Loan-to-own means buying fulcrum debt at 30–50 cents, converting to equity, and emerging with control.
Red flags to watch, fraudulent transfer and preference risk (90 days US, 2 years UK), hidden liabilities (pension deficits, environmental cleanup, multi-employer withdrawal), and management manipulating cash flow. Distressed valuations produce ranges, not points, wider range means steeper haircuts.
Open jobs
| Job | Firm | Level | Stage | Posted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restructuring · Debt and capital advisory |  Interpath Advisory | Graduate | Final year at university or graduates | 6 days |
| Restructuring · Capital & debt advisory |  EY | Summer starts Jul 2027 | Second-to-last year at university | 9 days |
| Restructuring | EY | Summer starts Jul 2027 | Second-to-last year at university | 9 days |
| Restructuring · Special situations / Credit | BNP Paribas | Off-cycle | Second-to-last year at university or later | 2 weeks |
| Restructuring · Loan portfolio diligence | Interpath Advisory | Manager | 4 to 6 years | 2 weeks |