Transactional lawyers’ traditional claims that insolvency specialists are a bunch of vultures were proved right spectacularly last week. Years of waiting in the wings while their corporate colleagues basked in glory has finally paid off as Railtrack came off the tracks.
The administration of the ill-fated Railtrack promises to be just as sexy as any cross-border, hostile bid. This is a precedent setter – the first insolvency under the Railways Act 1993 and the first wind-up of a major privatised company in the UK. In the world of reconstruction and insolvency this is as good as it gets. High profile and complicated, with enough political intrigue to fill a Michael Dobbs novel, the work also promises to flow for months, if not years.
