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.
Ms. Nelson has also been recognized by Les Echos - Best Lawyers (2023) 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