Clifford Chance secured this award for its work advising Dubai World subsidiary Drydocks World on the pioneering court-based restructuring of its $2.2bn (£1.5bn) of syndicated debt. According to the judges: “The transaction pioneered the enactment of Decree 57 in a highly complex international case that challenged the very integrity of the UAE markets.”
Decree 57 was introduced during Dubai’s 2009 debt crisis to allow Dubai World entities to enforce restructuring agreements on all creditors if two-thirds agreed to the plan. In the case of ship building and shipping business Drydocks World, a consensual out-of-court restructuring of its debt was rendered impossible when a distressed debt fund bought into the debt.
