Typical legal elements of group restructuring projects
The precise legal elements vary from project to project, but the following are common:
- Restructuring and simplifying internal supply chains
- Intra-group transfers of businesses, people and assets
- Intra-group transfers of intangible assets / intellectual property, including ‘wither on the vine’ strategies to deal with historic intellectual property
- Streamlining the ongoing management of intercompany transactions
- Simplifying and rationalising intercompany debt, including eliminating foreign exchange risks
- Removing legal entities through liquidation, strike-off or merger
- Designing and implementing intercompany agreements for regulatory and transfer pricing compliance
- Eurobond listings and deep discount bonds to address withholding tax on interest
- Liquidation demergers and capital reduction demergers
- Restructuring executive incentive schemes and employee benefit trusts
- Cross-border mergers
- Corporate migrations
- Implementation of cash pooling arrangements
- Creation of shared service centres
- Implementation of cost sharing / cost contribution arrangements
- Creation of new holding companies and corporate structures