With more than 30 years experience in corporate restructuring and insolvency, Steve has been a partner at Ferrier Hodgson for 15 years and heads up the Sydney office, managing a team of five partners and 74 professional and support staff. His experience ranges from advising on and facilitating restructuring and turnaround strategies to the re-engineering of entire businesses.
Steve works at the most senior level of business in Australia and internationally, dealing with boards, C-suite executives, top-level financiers and banking syndicates. His profile and experience in the turnaround sector has seen him engaged to help avoid or clean up after some of the most high-profile and complex corporate collapses in the Asia-Pacific region.
In 2008, Steve was engaged by a diverse global banking syndicate as Receiver of the Allco Finance Group, which was one of the most complex formal appointments in Australian corporate history. He oversaw the divestment of Allco’s significant shipping, rail, aviation, funds management, infrastructure, property and global-assets divisions, all while continuing to manage the ongoing operations of the remaining parts of the business.
His appointment by an international lending group in relation to Australia’s first pay-TV operation involved the negotiation and implementation of restructuring/sales plans of international programming rights and infrastructure arrangements. The role necessitated formal appointments in both Australia and the US.
Other key assignments have included:
- Administrator of one of Australia’s biggest telecommunications companies, One.Tel Limited
- Adviser to Board of Sydney Airports Corporation Limited in relation to the Ansett collapse
- Restructuring Adviser to International Consumer Finance organisation
- Adviser to Gowing Bros Limited