Tim Klineberg leads the Restructuring and Insolvency team at King & Wood Mallesons. He has been involved in the most complex and difficult restructuring and insolvency assignments in Australia and is widely recognised as a leader of the Australian restructuring and insolvency market. He has experience advising secured and unsecured creditors.
Tim also has specialist cross-border restructuring expertise gained in the Asia-Pacific region and in the United Kingdom. He is regularly involved in situations involving thousands of jobs, debts in the billions, having worked on many of the major restructuring and insolvency situations over many years is trusted by adviser to the major Australian banks, listed and private companies and many of the major insolvency practitioners in Australia. He also has significant cross-border restructuring expertise in both England and the Asia-Pacific region.
Tim's work highlights include:
- Basslink: advising the secured lenders and subsequently the receivers appointed to this complex project which is a nationally significant piece of infrastructure, constituting the only electricity cable linking the mainland with Tasmania. Receivers were appointed to the project by lenders owed more than A$600m. The asset was sold through a debt-for-equity swap transaction. This was a marquee restructuring transaction of a regulated Australian infrastructure asset.
- Tiger Resources restructuring: complex cross-border restructuring completed through an Australian creditors' scheme of arrangement. The scheme was approved despite being contested by a minority secured creditor. It was the first ‘guarantor’ scheme approved in Australia, which clarified the broad scope of creditors’ schemes of arrangement to restructure across borders.
- Arrium: led the team advising the lenders and noteholders owed more than $3 billion by the ASX-listed mining, steel production and distribution business. The Arrium administration and deeds of company arrangement are one of the most complex and significant Australian restructuring matters.
- Speedcast restructuring: Australian law adviser to the TLB and RCF lenders owed more than US$700m on the complex cross-border Chapter 11 proceeding in respect of various Speedcast group members including the Australian incorporated companies.
- SunCable: Advised the Government of the Northern Territory Government on the SunCable administration and sale. The Territory has a significant interest in this significant project which involves the prospective generation of solar electricity and transmission via undersea cable to Singapore.
- Heron Resources: complex capital raising and recapitalisation negotiations which were ultimately achieved through a controlled administration and deed of company arrangement. Tim also advised FTI Consulting as administrators and deed administrators.
- Disability Services Australia: advised this significant National Disability Insurance Scheme provider on its financial situation, and subsequent administration and recapitalisation. The transaction achieved a 100% return to creditors and no disruption to its important services provided to more than 1,700 participants reliant
- RCR Tomlinson liquidation: led the team that advised the administrators and liquidators on the insolvency of this significant engineering business with national operations.
- EncoreFX liquidation: advising the administrators and liquidators of EncoreFX on all aspects of the external administration including landmark Federal Court directions proceedings which clarified the application of client money provisions in the Corporations Act.
- SurfStitch recapitalisation: advising the administrators and deed administrators on the complex recapitalisation of this ASX-listed online retailer with cross-border operations. The deed of company arrangement resolved two separate class actions and the complex distribution of proceeds to subordinated creditors and shareholders.
