Audrey Nelson
Counsel, Business Reorganization & Restructuring
Audrey Nelson is counsel in the Business Reorganization & Restructuring Department. Ms. Nelson has significant experience handling out-of-court and cross-border restructuring matters on behalf of debtors, creditors and shareholders, as well as for investment and hedge funds. She has also worked on a number of LBO debt restructurings and lender-led restructurings.
Ms. Nelson has advised clients in various industries including media, oil and gas, cosmetics and chemicals in high-profile insolvency proceedings and distressed M&A transactions. Additionally, she handles litigation aspects in connection with distressed company and insolvency matters.
Audrey has been recognized again by Best Lawyers in 2024 for Insolvency and Reorganization Law.
Experience
Prior to joining Willkie, Ms. Nelson practiced for four years at an international U.S. law firm.
Ms. Nelson is a member of the Association des Jeunes professionnels du Restructuring (Young Insolvency Practitioners) since 2015.
Ms. Nelson is also a member of the European Organization of professionals who specialize in insolvency, bankruptcy and business reconstruction & recovery (INSOL) since 2022.
Change of venue: from theory to practice, in bulletin Joly Entreprises en Difficulté, May-June 2015
Ms. Nelson has advised:
- Cheyne Capital in its equity and debt investment in Compagnie Française de Croisières, a new player in the cruise industry
- Searchlight Capital Partners on the recapitalization of Latécoère, a major player in the aeronautics industry
- Air France KLM on its €4 billion French State measures to recapitalize Air France and its holding company
- Air France KLM and Air France on securing funding of €7 billion to help overcome the COVID-19 crisis
- Air France on the contemplated acquisition of activities and assets of Aigle Azur, the second largest French airline company under insolvency proceedings
- Alès Group, a cosmetic company listed on Euronext Paris, in the context of its financial restructuring
- Ateliers des Janves Group, a provider of automotive parts, in connection with its financial restructuring and subsequent insolvency proceedings
- the Steering Committee of the High-Yield Bond Holders on the debt restructuring of French oil services company CGG, one of the major financial restructurings in France, with $3 billion of indebtedness and the first restructuring conducted under French and U.S. legal proceedings with a Sauvegarde in France and chapter 11 and chapter 15 cases in the U.S.
- Lampe Berger, a famous lamp designer and fragrance maker, in connection with its financial restructuring
- Leaseplan in the out-of-court restructuring of Voitures Noires
- Dolby Laboratories in the bankruptcy proceedings of X-Gem
- Chenavari Investment Managers on the acquisition of PrimaVista
- Compagnie Industrielle et Financière de Bussy on the acquisition of Aciéries Hachette et Driout, creating the leading steel company in France
- Borletti Group and Chenavari in their bids for an asset deal under the bankruptcy proceedings of Gérard Darel
- Masonite International Corporation, listed on the NYSE and a global leader in manufacturing doors for construction, in connection with the sale of Premdor France Group (Premdor SAS and its subsidiaries) to Perceva
- Zodiac Marine, the worldwide leader of the manufacturing and sale of inflatable boats, in connection with its insolvency proceedings
- OpenGate Capital in connection with the restructuring of Kem One (chemical group with 2,600 employees, a turnover of €1.1 billion, 22 industrial sites over 10 countries)
- Wilmington Trust in connection with the recovery of $1.75 billion bonds of Petroplus in liquidation proceedings
- Attestor, an investment fund and one of the main creditors of Saur, in the restructuring of Saur "amounting to €1.8 billion," a major lenders-led restructuring of a leading French player in the water & outsourced waste management services for local authorities and industrial customers
- Hager, a leading European supplier of solutions and services for electrical installations in residential, commercial and industrial buildings (turnover: €1.6 billion) in connection with complex litigation related to the acquisition of Potentiel/Artys in the course of bankruptcy proceedings
- Insert, a leader in city center outdoor advertising, on its MBO, a pre-packaged sale subject to the opening of the safeguard proceeding – a first in France; the investment was made through a capital increase and a debt restructuring, making the acquisition possible
- HLD in connection with the acquisition and the safeguard plans of Laboratoires SVR, a French dermo-cosmetic skin care laboratory