Shepherd and Wedderburn has launched a dedicated offering for purchasers and potential purchasers of distressed businesses to expedite the sale process.

The firm's market-leading restructuring and business advisory and corporate finance teams have collaborated to create an offering for buyers wishing to acquire distressed businesses. Such sales often take place via an accelerated merger and acquisition (AMA) process. This is a potential route to a business rescue for distressed enterprises and involves a truncated marketing and sales process, often structured as a pre-pack sale from the selling company in administration.

The timing and dynamics of buying a company or business through an AMA process are very different to a typical solvent sale, with the deal generally being conducted in a matter of days or weeks, rather than months, and the buyer bearing the transactional risks.

To take advantage of such opportunities, buyers need to act quickly, hone in on the essential points for due diligence and swiftly understand key risk areas. Shepherd and Wedderburn's cross-sector offering brings together specialist lawyers from across the firm and takes a swift, focused approach to the key legal issues, increasing the likelihood of successfully completing a sale.

Fiona McKerrell, a Partner in the firm's restructuring and business advisory team, said: "Our restructuring and business advisory team has extensive experience in acting for administrators, and can very quickly cut to the heart of what is possible in terms of negotiating the sale documentation. This hugely expedites the negotiation process and minimises the costs and hassle for all parties.

"Taken with the streamlined approach we have developed to scoping and due diligence, we can really add value to clients and help them complete deals in the challenging timescales associated with this type of transaction."

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