ASSET RESTRUCTURING

A bank involved in the restructuring of a large fast-moving consumer goods group in Central Europe, instructed us to investigate a suspected conspiracy aimed at preventing the completion of a deal that would see the bank take over one of the group’s key assets.

We undertook to map out the relationships between a number of parties – including local and national politicians, competitors, government agencies, lobbyists and other stakeholders – to investigate claims that certain parties were acting together to frustrate the finalisation of the deal.

This mapping exercise involved extensive online research, surveillance of the key subjects, and source inquiries with current and former politicians; industry commentators and analysts; journalists; current and former government employees and other individuals well-placed to provide commentary on the relationships under scrutiny.

Our investigation highlighted certain alliances and affiliations between key stakeholders, unbeknownst to the client, that were colluding to prevent the completion of the deal.