Chris is a finance, insolvency and restructuring lawyer who advises lenders and insolvency practitioners on a range of domestic and cross-border finance transactions. He has experience helping clients achieve strategic objectives and respond to difficult legal and commercial problems often in an innovative way. Most recently, Chris has been involved in several high profile and challenging workout and restructuring situations. His areas of practice include refinancings, restructurings, insolvency administrations, and corporate and acquisition financing.

1. Chris is a finance, insolvency and restructuring lawyer who advises lenders
and insolvency practitioners on a range of domestic and cross-border
finance transactions. He has also advised corporate clients such as CSL
and Healthscope on the financing aspects of significant M&A transactions.
He is experienced in helping our clients to achieve their strategic
objectives and to respond to difficult legal and commercial problems, often
in an innovative way.
Most recently, Chris has been involved in a series of high profile and
challenging workout and restructuring situations. Being attuned to the
complex dynamics of these situations, he takes a proactive approach,
works collaboratively with financial and other advisers and gives practical
and impartial advice.
Chris' principal areas of practice include:
Chris Patten BCom LLB (Hons)
Senior Associate • refinancings, recapitalisations, balance-sheet restructurings, asset
Senior Associate since 2010 divestment programs and work-outs;
• insolvency administrations; and
• corporate and acquisition financing, including takeovers, schemes of
arrangement, trade sales and LBOs/MBOs.
Chris is also a member of our Personal Property Securities Act (PPSA)
team and is heavily involved in assisting banks and insolvency
practitioners to understand the impact of the PPSA on their business and
the conduct of corporate insolvency assignments.
Chris' experience includes advising:
• Credit Suisse as financier of the first hostile takeover by a private
equity firm in Australia (Colorado Group), the Group's senior lenders in
the 2009 debt restructuring and, ultimately, Ferrier Hodgson as
receivers and managers of the Group in connection with the disposal
of the Group's businesses to Fusion Retail Brands Pty Ltd (controlled
by the senior lenders) in September 2011;
• the lenders to the Elders Group on all aspects of its standstill
arrangements, subsequent debt restructuring and recapitalisation and
the September 2011 refinancing which saw a reduction in the number
of the Group's lenders from 24 to 5;
• KordaMentha as receivers and managers of the Willmott Forests
Group;
• Ferrier Hodgson as receivers and managers of a group of companies
owning a portfolio of properties around Australia used for scrap metal
recycling, having previously advised ANZ on an asset divestment
program and security enforcement;
• the lenders to Silk Logistics Group, a logistics roll-up owned by
Gresham Private Equity, on the amendment and extension of the
Group's secured syndicated facilities;
• the Australian lenders to Nufarm in relation to its 2010 covenant
waivers, standstill and short term financing arrangements;

2. • the lenders to the Skilled Group in relation to its syndicated financing
arrangements;
• the Australian lenders to the Centro Group, focusing on contingency
planning and insolvency issues relating to the Group's downstream
funds;
• advising nab in relation to a restructuring / workout of its financing
package for the '717 Bourke Street' project in Melbourne's Docklands
following the collapse of Babcock & Brown, the project sponsor and
mezzanine lender;
• OZ Minerals' senior lenders in relation to the company's 2008 / 2009
difficulties refinancing c.$900m of facilities provided by those lenders
and Societe Generale, and the 2009 takeover by China Minmetals Non
Ferrous Metals Co., Ltd (Minmetals) which saw the lenders repaid in
full;
• ANZ in relation to the establishment and syndication of a A$125m
syndicated secured facility for Village Roadshow;
• CSL on the financing package for the proposed US$3.1bn acquisition
of Talecris Biotherapeutics Holding Corp in 2008 and generally in
relation to its other Australian and offshore financing arrangements;
• Healthscope on the financing package for its A$2.7bn bid for Symbion
Health in 2008;
• Linklaters and their clients Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch
in relation to the Australian aspects of Project Tension (CVC's
acquisition of international mining and construction contractor,
DYWIDAG-Systems International);
• the banking syndicates funding the A$3.8bn bridge and A$2.5bn term
facilities for SP AusNet's proposed A$8.3bn acquisition of ex-Alinta
assets owned by Singapore Power International (including the Eastern
Gas Pipeline, Queensland Gas Pipeline, Alinta's Victorian Electricity
Network and its eastern states asset management business) in late
2007; and
• the provider of subordinated interest rate swaps to the Dampier
Bunbury National Gas Pipeline.