SSEK Law Firm won Restructuring Deal of Year at the IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2023 for its role in the Garuda Airlines restructuring.
The Garuda restructuring required critical cross-border structuring to coordinate Indonesia’s suspension of debt payment obligation (PKPU) regime with the English scheme processes. Standout features included the debt profile, compliance challenges related to the company’s status as a state-owned entity and the creditor mix. The case involved in-court restructuring of Garuda’s financial and contractual debt and resolutions to its US and English law governed aircraft lease and other obligations, including $500 million Sukuk certificates.
SSEK acted for several creditors in the US$9.8 billion debt restructuring of Garuda Indonesia, one of the largest and most complex PKPU proceedings in Indonesian history. SSEK’s clients in the PKPU process included maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) vendors, including a leading multinational aerospace company.
The SSEK team included senior partner Ira A. Eddymurthy, partners Fitriana Mahiddin, Mahareksha Singh Dillon and Nico A. Mooduto, and foreign legal advisor Michael S. Carl. Associates Dimas Indartono, Indrawan Dwi Yuriutomo, Joseph Hendrik and Farrah Azizah Habibie also worked on this matter.
The IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards showcase the most legally innovative cross-border transactions from across Asia Pacific over the past 12 months, as well as the teams and individuals behind the deals. All transactions had to have reached financial close in 2022.