Ben Ward

• Acting for the facility agent and syndicate of bank lenders, including development banks, of a c.$570m refinancing facility in respect of projects for the mining of strategic metals in Africa in connection with the project companies' financial difficulties and local insolvency processes.
•  Acting for Mount Street as Special Servicer of the £350m Atlas Hotels CMBS on all aspects of their role as Special Servicer, including contingency planning and negotiating a restructuring.
• Acting for AlixPartners as administrators of the Argyll Club Group, the provider of flexible office space, on all aspects of the administration including the appointment, refinancing and exit.
• Acting for Mount Street as Special Servicer of the £90m Maroon CMBS on all aspects of their role as Special Servicer, including enforcement and workout advice.
• Advising the trustees of the pension schemes of various retailers in restructuring scenarios.
• Advising Permira Debt Managers on the restructuring of loveholidays.
• Acting for the Pizza Express group in connection with its restructuring of its senior secured and senior notes using the new UK restructuring plan procedure.*
• Advising Travelodge Hotels Limited on the formulation and implementation of its company voluntary arrangement.*
• Advising the ad-hoc committee of holders of convertible bonds on all aspects of the restructuring of the Steinhoff group.* 
• Advising Agrokor d.d. (now known as Fortenova Grupa) and its special administrators in its restructuring of more than EUR 6 billion through a Croatian extraordinary administration process and associated recognition proceedings in England and across the Balkan region.*
• Acting for PwC as administrators of Lehman Brothers Limited in the Waterfall I litigation proceedings in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court to address a number of complex issues of insolvency law arising in the administration of Lehman Brothers’ European trading company.*
• Acting for a large credit fund on the enforcement of its Luxembourg law security and acquisition of the business in a direct lending situation in respect of a PE-owned European telecoms group.*
• Acting for KPMG as liquidators of an investment company in wrongful trading proceedings.* 
• Acting for various officeholders in administration and liquidation proceedings.
• Assisting various funds, investment banks and private equity houses in relation to their diligence of European investment opportunities in stressed and distressed transactions.

* experience gained prior to joining Mayer Brown