HomeRestructuring and insolvency
Intellectual property in restructuring and insolvency.
When a business is under pressure, its brands, websites, customer data and technology can be among its most valuable and most fragile assets. Early, structured thinking makes the difference between value preserved and value lost.
01Expertise
Experience inside UK and international insolvencies.
Our founder has spent much of his career leading IP valuation and disposition in formal insolvency and restructuring processes. That includes some of the UK’s most high-profile cases, among them Thomas Cook, Monarch Airlines, TM Lewin, MFI, Poundworld and Bolton Wanderers, as well as mandates in other jurisdictions.
He has worked alongside administrators, liquidators, receivers, secured lenders, restructuring advisers, lawyers and boards. The work has covered nearly every industry and every type of IP, often under intense time pressure and public scrutiny.
Who we work with
- Insolvency practitioners
- Secured and unsecured lenders
- Restructuring and turnaround advisers
- Insolvency and restructuring lawyers
- Boards and directors of distressed businesses
- Investors and buyers of distressed assets
02Two questions every case asks
Defensibility and value.
We help clients be clear about which question they are answering, and make sure the work, the specialists and the process fit it.
Valuation for defensibility
An opinion of value that office-holders, lenders and boards can rely on and stand behind.
Prepared on the right basis and to the right standard.
Disposal for value
Reach the right buyers through the right process and achieve the best available outcome.
In the time available.
03What the work covers
How we help.
- 01
Early-stage case assessment
A rapid view of the IP, its likely value drivers and the immediate risks to it.
- 02
Valuation and disposal scoping
Defining what needs to be valued or sold, on what basis, and by whom.
- 03
Buyer and market strategy
Identifying the likely buyer universe, from trade and competitors to investors and brand acquirers.
- 04
Process design
Structuring timetables, data rooms, marketing and bid processes appropriate to the case.
- 05
Multi-asset coordination
Aligning IP with stock, property, equipment and business sales where they interact.
- 06
Stakeholder and adviser alignment
Keeping office-holders, lenders, lawyers and specialists working to one plan.
- 07
Selection of suitable valuers and agents
Matching specialist expertise to the asset type and sector.
- 08
Strategic oversight through a transaction
Senior input from first call to completion.
04Across every stage
Processes we know.
- Pre-insolvency and contingency planning
- Accelerated M&A and distressed sales
- Administration
- Pre-packaged sales
- Liquidation, voluntary and compulsory
- Fixed-charge and LPA receivership
- Company voluntary arrangements
- Restructuring plans and schemes
- Lender-led enforcement and recovery
- Cross-border and international insolvencies
- Connected-party transactions
Formal insolvency appointments are taken by licensed insolvency practitioners. Our role is to advise and support them, and the lenders and boards they work with, on the IP.
05What is at stake
Assets that matter in a restructuring.
- Brands and trade marks
- Websites and domain names
- Customer databases and marketing lists
- Social media and digital channels
- Software, platforms and source code
- Patents and know-how
- Registered and unregistered designs
- Copyright, content and archives
- Music, media and broadcast rights
- Sports, image and naming rights
- Licences, franchises and royalty streams
- Data and proprietary technology
The treatment of personal data, licences and third-party rights requires specialist legal input; we make sure it is considered early.
Next step
Dealing with an IP-rich case?
Early conversations are often the most valuable.
Or email nat@intellectualconsultancy.com