John Sommer Schmidt

(The following information was supplied by the firm)

Partner

Restructuring & Insolvency

John Sommer Schmidt heads up our Restructuring & Insolvency practice group. John specialises in distressed companies, focussing on both reconstruction, including voluntary arrangements, and winding up financially distressed companies and advice to creditors. John has extensive knowledge of and hands-on experience with all aspects of Danish bankruptcy and reconstruction law and also acts as a liquidator, reconstruction administrator and trustee. Among other things, John is a regular assistant in liquidation and bankruptcy cases before the probate court in Aarhus.

John has extensive knowledge about finance law and the law of mortgages and pledges and advises clients on the establishment of, obtaining security in connection with and enforcement of all kinds of charges and secured-creditor rights. John also provides general business advice and conducts litigation.

In addition to his legal training, John also has a background in economics and this combination of skills is the foundation of John’s advice, which is business and solution-oriented and focuses on in bancreating value for the client.

Significant cases
Over the years, John has administered some of the largest and most complex bankruptcy estates in Denmark, including often bankruptcy estates with very complex issues of an international/cross-border nature. Among other things, he has been appointed restructuring administrator and subsequently trustee in the listed company Green Wind Energy A/S and its subsidiaries and in Scan Energy A/S and its subsidiaries. John has also assisted in an extensive number of extra-judicial restructurings, including, among others, the restructuring of the listed shipping company TORM A/S and the pipe manufacturer Logstor A/S. Most recently, John is appointed trustee in, among others, the Marselis Ejendomme group, the OW Bunker group which was the world’s largest supplier of bunkerfuel for ships before its bankruptcy, and in TOP-TOY which was the biggest toy retailer in the Nordics and operated more than 300 shops and had more than 3,000 employees.