Slater and Gordon has successfully seen the final part of its recapitalisation plan approved by the Federal Court of Australia. It avoided insolvency through an arrangement between the firm and its financiers and a separate deal with the firm's shareholders. The deal sees the separation of the firm's Australian and UK businesses. A consortium of international hedge funds, led by Anchorage Capital has swapped the debt for equity.

UK separation

Meanwhile the UK business will be separated from the Australian business. 'The recapitalisation provides the only opportunity to secure the future of the firm and its workforce, and also provides the potential for some value recovery for shareholders and other stakeholders as Slater and Gordon pursues its strategic plan in Australia,' chairman John Skippen said at the AGM. UK CEO Ken Fowlie said that the formal completion of the recapitalisation and separation process 'will mean the businesses in the UK and Australia will be best placed and more flexible to evolve to meet our respective clients’ need for world-class legal services.' Slater and Gordon was the world's first listed law firm when it went public in 2007.