Dr. Sven-Holger Undritz

Caritas Hamburg GmbH, 2014/2015
Sven-Holger led the restructuring of this Catholic charitable organization, which continues to maintain several homes for the elderly in northern Germany. The main objectives were to identify and sell uneconomical facilities and to save the viable parts of the company through a rehabilitation plan. The plan preserved all jobs, and unsecured creditors received an 80% rate of recovery on their claims. The shareholders retained equity, and a new strategic partner was added to the company. The bankruptcy proceeding was terminated one year after it was filed.

Ahrenkiel Group, 2014
Sven-Holger advised Christian J. Ahrenkiel, owner of German shipping group Ahrenkiel, in restructuring negotiations in connection with the financing and sale of the German and Cypriot units of Ahrenkiel Group. The negotiations with HSH Nordbank, NordLB, M.M. Warburg, Commerzbank and Credit Suisse were vital to ensuring the continuation of operations until and after a new investor could acquire them. The acquirer was a new company created by Hamburg MPC Group and shipping company Thien & Heyenga. Ahrenkiel Group employs approximately 600 seafarers and more than 60 employees on shore. The fleet consists of 14 container vessels, six bulk carriers and three tankers.

Dual-Purpose Trusteeships
Sven-Holger is regularly appointed as a so-called dual-purpose trustee in special situations where an intermediary between financial creditors and existing shareholders is needed, but where all parties agree that an insolvency proceeding needs to be avoided. In such cases, if no compromise among the stakeholders can be negotiated, the trustee is normally empowered to sell the shares to new owners free and clear of financial claims, and the proceeds of sale are then used to at least partially satisfy such claims. Sven-Holger is currently the dual-purpose trustee in respect of the Kittner group, formerly one of the ten biggest car dealers in Germany. He also is involved in this capacity in a major health care provider case. The company operates more than 50 care homes and rehabilitation centers throughout Germany and is financed by a pool of about 20 banks.

Hotel Intercontinental, 2013
As insolvency administrator of the five star hotel InterContinental Hamburg, Sven-Holger succeeded in the difficult task of finding a buyer, Kühne Immobilia GmbH, for the hotel’s land and buildings. Though the real estate is in a prestigious location on the Außenalster, Hamburg’s famous urban lake, the acquisition required intense negotiations to resolve a highly complex array of long-term building rights. Reaching a deal and closing the transaction depended not only on great expertise in insolvency law and in M&A and real estate matters, but also on a specific knowledge of the hotel sector. The hotel had been forced to seek the opening of secondary insolvency proceedings in Germany in late 2012 after insolvency proceedings had been opened in Switzerland in respect of its parent company, Grod Hotel GmbH (Schweiz/Switzerland) Niederlassung Deutschland (subsidiary Germany).

Conergy AG, 2013 (ongoing)
Appointed by the district court of Hamburg, Sven-Holger acted as the preliminary administrator of Conergy AG, a leading worldwide photovoltaic solution service provider. The company owned more than 30 subsidiaries throughout the world. Within only five months, Sven-Holger succeeded in finding a buyer for the holding company and most of the major subsidiaries. He was also able to craft and implement separate restructuring solutions for the Frankfurt-based solar module producer Conergy Solarmodule and the Berlin-based frame producer Mounting Systems GmbH. As a result of these successes in the restructuring proceeding, 500 jobs were saved.

PowerWind GmbH, 2012
In this matter, Sven-Holger was appointed as the temporary custodian of an onshore wind turbine manufacturer and service provider. The proceeding was one of the first under the new German Insolvency Law (ESUG), pursuant to which the debtor remained in possession of its assets.