Profile details
About Dr. Lars Westpfahl
Lars practises in the area of restructuring and insolvency. He founded the firm’s German restructuring and insolvency practice and has been its leader ever since. He has consistently been recognised as one of the few leading practitioners in the market.
Lars advises groups on their financial restructurings, often in complex situations (for example where the client is a listed entity and/or has a multi-layered financing structure). He also often acts for fulcrum creditors on innovative restructurings of their borrowers. In doing so, Lars has been involved in most of the milestone transactions that have shaped the German market.
He speaks German, English and French.
Recent work
- Advising H.C. Starck Group on the extension of its existing financing including a push-up of its junior debt.
- Advising Singulus Technologies on the restructuring of its German bond by way of partial debt/equity-swap and debt/debt-swap, one of the few successful out of court restructurings of a German bond.
- Advising IVG Immobilien on its financial restructuring by way of insolvency plan, arguably the biggest insolvency plan in Germany by value.
- Advising Klöckner Pentaplast Group on its financial restructuring including the take-over by junior lenders followed by various refinancings.
- Advising the ad hoc steering committee of noteholders of Deutsche Annington on the refinancing of its indebtedness, Europe’s largest CMBS, by way of an English scheme of arrangement.
Qualifications
Education
- University of Freiburg, Germany (Law)
- London School of Economics, UK (Law)
- Technical University of Dresden, Germany (Doctorate and Assistant Teacher in Law)
Professional qualifications
- Rechtsanwalt, Germany
Professional memberships
- Founder and Board Member of the German Chapter of Turnaround Management Association (TMA)
- Member of INSOL International
- Member of the International Bar Association
- Member of the German Bar Association
- Member of INSOL Europe, the Northern German Insolvency Forum and Expert Group set up by the German Federal Ministry of Justice