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Glen Flannery

Partner

Portrait of Glen Flannery

Glen Flannery

Partner

Contact
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Cannon Place
78 Cannon Street
London
EC4N 6AF
United Kingdom
Languages English

Glen is a Partner in our Restructuring & Insolvency team. He qualified in 2003 and became a partner in the business in 2007.

Glen advises debtors, creditors, insolvency practitioners, investors in distressed assets, and a variety of other stakeholders, on both contentious and non-contentious matters, at all stages of the decline and recovery curves. This includes advising on directors' duties on insolvency, restructuring plans, security package enhancements and enforcement, distressed asset sales and acquisitions, loan-to-own strategies, insolvency investigations, solvent reconstructions, and mitigation of insolvency risk in transactions.

During his career, Glen has structured and implemented many business rescues, including Harland & Wolff (a shipyard in Northern Ireland), UK Coal (a restructuring which saved over 2,000 skilled jobs), Mint Equities (a prominent stockbroking business, acquired by BGC Partners) and Teathers (the stockbroking arm of Landsbanki, acquired by Redmayne Bentley).

Glen has also led many major international and cross-border mandates, involving the use of the European Insolvency Regulation, the UNCITRAL model law on insolvency and other cross-border tools. He often helps overseas clients to resolve UK and cross-border conflict of law issues. Cases include Lowcosttravelgroup, Stanford International Bank, Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander, Lehman Brothers, the Niton Fund, Eurodis and Crisscross/Dynegy.

Glen covers all sectors. Currently, he is very active in heavy industry, retail, projects, financial services and pensions.

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"Clear, concise, commercially focused advice and support, effectively and expediently communicated within an extremely challenging corporate, contractual and solvency environment, delivering outcomes to multiple competing international and domestic stakeholders and their numerous legal and financial advisors."

Con O’Neill, (former) Chief Financial Officer, Harland & Wolff

"CMS crowned Restructuring & Insolvency Team of the Year at the Legal Business Awards 2018, for the Hoover restructuring led by Glen Flannery."

Legal Business Awards, 2018

In Legal 500, he has been described as "excellent", "technically strong" and "commercial". In Chambers & Partners, he has been described by clients as "knowledgeable and astute", "commercial", "proactive and innovative", and someone who provides "thoughtful advice that considers the bigger picture as well as the detail".

Legal 500, Chambers & Partners

Glen is also included among Insolvency Today's Power 100 of leading industry experts, The Legal Business Legal Experts, the Who's Who of Insolvency, and Super Lawyers.

"Clear, concise, commercially focused advice and support, effectively and expediently communicated within an extremely challenging corporate, contractual and solvency environment, delivering outcomes to multiple competing international and domestic stakeholders and their numerous legal and financial advisors."

Con O’Neill, (former) Chief Financial Officer, Harland & Wolff

"CMS crowned Restructuring & Insolvency Team of the Year at the Legal Business Awards 2018, for the Hoover restructuring led by Glen Flannery."

Legal Business Awards, 2018

In Legal 500, he has been described as "excellent", "technically strong" and "commercial". In Chambers & Partners, he has been described by clients as "knowledgeable and astute", "commercial", "proactive and innovative", and someone who provides "thoughtful advice that considers the bigger picture as well as the detail".

Legal 500, Chambers & Partners

Glen is also included among Insolvency Today's Power 100 of leading industry experts, The Legal Business Legal Experts, the Who's Who of Insolvency, and Super Lawyers.

Relevant experience

  • Hydrodec Group Plc – Advising the group on its restructuring, including use of the UK’s new CIGA moratorium process and an administration sale of the US sub-group as a going concern.    
  • Wahaca – advising the company on a successful pandemic-era company voluntary arrangement and wider debt and equity restructuring. 
  • The Book People – advising the purchaser of certain assets of this well-known book business from its administrators (PwC).
  • Harland and Wolff Group Plc - advising the group and its administrators (BDO Northern Ireland) on the restructuring and administration sale of this iconic business, best known for building the Titanic.
  • British Steel – advising the company in its restructuring negotiations with government and other key stakeholders.
  • Costcutter – advising this national retailer on its restructuring and turnaround following the collapse of the UK’s largest wholesaler, Palmer & Harvey.
  • House of Fraser – advising the pension scheme through the group's restructuring involving a company voluntary arrangement and inter-locking schemes of arrangement. 
  • Toys R Us Limited – advising the pension scheme in relation to Toys R Us’ restructuring, involving a company voluntary arrangement.
  • Carillion – advising a range of stakeholders on major issues arising from this high profile compulsory liquidation 
  • Hoover Limited – advising the company on a £0.5 billion pensions related restructuring, implemented by way of a rarely used regulated apportionment arrangement.
  • Lowcosttravelgroup – advising the joint administrators (Smith & Williamson) of a pan-European travel group, involving major issues in Spain, Poland and Switzerland as well as the UK.
  • Confidential – advising a real estate fund on its acquisition from Bank of Ireland of a portfolio of non-performing loans, secured by a dozen regional shopping centres.  
  • Niton Fund – advising the Cayman Island liquidators (RHSW) of a failed investment fund on a range of cross-border matters.
  • LQD Markets (UK) Limited – advising the special administrators (RSM) of a currency broker on its investment bank special administration.
  • Confidential – advising the trustee in bankruptcy of an Irish bankrupt on avoidance claims across several jurisdictions. 
  • Reservoir Exploration Technology – advising the UK liquidators (Smith & Williamson) on a range of cross-border issues involving Norway, Ireland and the UK.
  • Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander (Isle of Man) Limited – advising a Manx bank and its liquidators (PwC) on a range of cross-border issues, leading to a 100 pence in the pound recovery for its creditors.
  • Stanford International Bank - advising the US Securities & Exchange Commission on the cross-border insolvency aspects of a global fraud.
  • UK Coal - leading the group restructuring of the UK's largest coal producer, involving  a unique compromise with the Pension Protection Fund which saved the business and 2,000 skilled jobs.
  • Mint Equities Limited - advising the administrators (PwC) on a pre-packaged administration sale of Mint's stock-broking business in the UK, Dubai and Switzerland.
  • Teathers Limited - advising the administrators (KMPG) on a pre-packaged administration sale of the stockbroking and private client arms of Landsbanki.
  • Lyondell Bassell Group - advising a UK pension scheme trustee through a US Chapter 11 restructuring.
  • Fountains Group – advising OCS on its pre-packaged administration acquisition of a facilities management business which had over 2,000 employees.
  • Forsyth Partners - advising Crosby Capital on its acquisition of the business of this failed fund management group, with more than US$1.2 billion of assets under management.
  • Eurodis Group - advising the administrators (Deloitte) of a pan-European distribution group subject to simultaneous main and secondary proceedings in England and Holland, on multijurisdictional asset sales and cross-border claims handling, distributions and exits.
  • Crisscross/Dynegy Group - advising the administrators (Haines Watts) on a pan-European group COMI filing for UK administration. This broke new ground as the first major pan-European group COMI filing. The model was subsequently followed in Collins & Aikman, MG Rover and Nortel.
     
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Memberships & Roles

  • Member of R3 (the UK Association of Business Recovery Professionals) and its Education Courses & Conferences Committee
  • Member of INSOL Europe (the European-wide Association of Business Recovery Professionals) and its European Insolvency Regulation Monitoring Committee
  • Member of the ILA (the Insolvency Lawyers Association)
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Publications

  • Contributor to the Pensions Law Handbook (15th Edition), Bloomsbury Professional.
  • "The Rise and Rise of CVAs - Impact on Pension Schemes", PLC Magazine, published October 2019.
  • Glen is the UK editor of Colliers International Business Insolvency Guide.
  • "Brexit - implications for restructuring and insolvency: a British and Dutch perspective", published in the 7 November 2016 edition of Tijdschrift Financiering, Zekerheden En Insolventierechtpraktijk.
  • "Lowcosttravelgroup insolvency shows why UK needs Euro Reg", published in the August 2016 edition of Global Turnaround.
  • "EU forges ahead with restructuring reforms, despite Brexit Vote", published in the May 2016 edition of Global Turnaround.
  • "UK pre-packs endorsed, but 'clean-up' recommended", published in the Autumn 2014 edition of Eurofenix.
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Lectures list

  • Chairing panel session on “Pre-packs – where are now?” at INSOL Europe’s Eastern Countries' conference, June 2019
  • Chairing the joint R3 and INSOL Europe conference on international restructuring & insolvency, June 2018
  • Participating in a panel on credit bidding at INSOL Europe's Annual Congress, September 2016
  • Speaking on reform of the European Insolvency Regulation at the R3 Annual Congress, May 2015
  • Speaking on the American College of Bankruptcy's International Bankruptcy programme at Columbia Law School and New York University Law School, New York
  • Co-chairing the technical programme for INSOL Europe's Annual Congress in October 2012
  • Presenting to the Netherlands Association for Comparative and International Insolvency Law on 10 Years of the European Insolvency Regulation, May 2012
  • Presenting to the Spanish Law Society on UK and Cross-border Insolvency & Restructuring, June 2011
  • Lecturing at GRIP 21, an exclusive conference for judges from across the World on the handling of cross-border insolvencies
  • Speaking on the cross-border insolvency toolbox at the CIS Local Counsel Forum in Kiev, June 2009
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Education

  • 2000 - Legal Practice Course (Distinction), Nottingham Law School, Nottingham
  • 1999 - Postgraduate Diploma in Law (Commendation), Nottingham Law School, Nottingham
  • 1998 - Master's Degree in Civil Engineering (First Class Honours), the University of Nottingham, Nottingham
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Expertise

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