Borja García-Alamán is partner at Garrigues since 2008 and member of the Firm since 1997, providing advice on business distress situations, out-of-court restructuring processes, refinancing agreements and Spanish Schemes (homologación judicial), pre-insolvency situations and insolvency proceedings. He also has extensive experience in civil and commercial litigation and in arbitration proceedings.
He is renowned in the sector for his experience providing strategic advice to debtors in situations of actual or imminent insolvency, preparing and formally filing insolvency proceedings, having participated in many of the most high-profile insolvency proceedings in Spain (and with a cross-border dimension) in the industrial, construction, automotive, real estate, construction, energy, retail, financial services, private equity, tourism&hotels, sports&entertainment, public concessionaires and healthcare industries.
An expert on directors’ liability, he provides corporate advice in relation to situations or transactions with an insolvency component or risk, claw-back resistance analysis and the prevention or limitation of liability or clawback risks.
He is also frequently engaged by creditors to defend or protect their claims, rights, guarantees or contractual positions vis-a-vis distressed or insolvent debtors, as well as to provide advice regarding strategic acquisitions of companies, production/bussines units or shareholdings in distress situations, distress debt transactions and claims acquisitions.
His career has been singled out for praise in the most prestigious international legal directories for many years: in IFLR 1000 (Leading lawyer 2021), Chambers Europe 2021 (Band 2), Legal 500 (Leading individuals 2021) and Best Lawyers.
He has lectured in Insolvency and Pre-Insolvency Law on the Master’s Degree in Business Law at Centro de Estudios Garrigues since 2009 and on the Master’s Degree in Business Insolvency organized by Centro de Estudios Universitarios San Pablo – CEU. He is also a regular speaker at national and international conferences, focusing mainly on insolvency matters and companies in distress. Notably, Borja delivered (among others) the following sessions:
- "Securities and right of separate enforcement at insolvency proceedings" at the Conference on the future of movable guarantees on a global framework, organized by Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Centro de Investigación de Derecho Registral (he Registration Law Research Center). The conference took place on December 2019 at the General Management of Registries and Notaries in Madrid.
- “Relevant aspects for secured lenders at pre-insolvency and insolvency proceedings”, within the framework of the Annual Cross-Border Lending Conference -Insolvency Panel organized by the Commercial Finance Association (CFA) held at the London offices of Mayer Brown on May 2018.
- “Problems of court validation of refinancing agreements” at the International Corporate Restructuring Conference held on April 20 and 21, 2017 at the Consejo General de la Abogacía (Madrid);
- Delivered a session at the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation, Madrid, on “Secured transactions and insolvency” at the Conference entitled “Towards a reform of the Spanish secured transactions system”, which took place on November 30, 2016, organized by Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and the Registration Law Research Center;
- Session in Cascais, Portugal, on September 21, 2016 at the INSOL Europe Annual Congress, as part of the panel on “Trying to keep a business afloat: Finance & Liability Issues for Directors and/or Lenders”;
- Partook in a round table: “Arbitration and insolvency in the new Insolvency Regulations” at the International Arbitration and Litigation Forum organized by FIDE on September 28, 2016;
- “Distressed Investing & Restructuring in Spain” at the New York offices of Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in April 2014;
- “Current issues for Secured Lenders in Receiverships and Insolvencies” organized by the Commercial Finance Association (CFA), held at the offices of Bank of America in London in April 2012;
- Participated in the panel on “Assessment and conclusion of the insolvency proceeding”, at the moderated round table, as part of the cycle of lectures on the Reform of the Insolvency Law, at Universidad Complutense, January 25, 2012;
- “Crisis management: a legal perspective” at the Madrid Chamber of Commerce, as part of the Finance Seminars organized by Fundación Numa, in May 2011;
- “Solutions to business distress: judicial and non-judicial restructuring processes”, Westin Palace, organized by IFE in March 2009;
- “Protection of family assets in times of crisis” at Universidad de Castilla La Mancha in November 2012;
- Session entitled “Effects of the insolvency order: Effects on credit institutions and financial transactions” on the Special Course in Insolvency Law at the Madrid Bar Association, 2010.
He also regularly participates in ad hoc training courses organized by Centro de Estudios Garrigues.
Borja García-Alamán President and a founding member of the Spanish Chapter of the TMA (Turnaround Management Association).
He also collaborates with the World Bank as an expert contributor to the Resolving Insolvency chapter of the Doing Business report since 2009.
Member of Madrid Bar Association.
Degree in Law, Universidad Complutense (San Pablo CEU).
Master’s Degree in Business Law, Centro de Estudios Garrigues.
Books and collective works:
- Practical approach to companies restructuring and Insolvency Law, from the Garrigues Collection, published by Aranzadi, Madrid, June 2017 (*) (author of a chapter dealing with the Assessment/liability section and insolvency liabilities of directors within insolvency proceedings).
- The Restructuring Review (from the 2nd edition in 2009 to the 9th edition in 2016, Law Business Research).
- Business Distress and Insolvency: Towards a Business Restructuring Law (*) (author of two chapters, Garrigues Collection, Aranzadi in 2010).
- Commentaries on the Insolvency Law (*) (Garrigues Collection, Marcial Pons, Madrid, 2004).
Articles and other publications:
- "Spanish Sales of Business Units and UK Pre-Pack Sales Compared"(GGR´s The European, Middle Eastern and African Restructuring Review 2019).
- "The sale of production unit insolvency proceedings: a method of preserving value and business opportunity". (*) (Editorial Aranzadi, June 2018).
- "Funding over troubled water: insolvency litigation funding in Spain" (GGR´s The European, Middle Eastern and African Restructuring Review 2018).
- “Homologation/court validation of refinancing agreements: viability, claw-back resistance and challenges” (*) (Revista de Derecho Concursal y Paraconcursal, Nº 27, Second half 2017, Editorial La Ley Wolters Kluwer).
- “Arbitration proceedings underway and insolvency orders” (*) (Revista de Derecho Concursal y Paraconcursal, No. 18, first half of 2013, Editorial LA LEY).
- “Business crisis solutions in Spain: A necessary step forward” (Global Insolvency and Restructuring Review, Euromoney 2009);
- “Make or break time for Insolvency Law? Towards a Business Restructuring Law” (Global Insolvency and Restructuring Review, Euromoney 2010);
- “Objective: Preserving Value” (Global Insolvency and Restructuring Review, Euromoney 2011);
- “Spain: Key new legislation introduced by the Insolvency Reform Law” (Global Insolvency and Restructuring Review, Euromoney 2012).
- “Insolvency Law in Crisis? Moving towards business restructuring law” (*), published in La LEY on May 27, 2010.
- “Directors’ liability and accounting treatment of goodwill” (*) (Expansión, May 2009).
- “Unique out-of-court agreements with an application to terminate insolvency proceedings” (*) in Revista de Derecho Concursal y Paraconcursal no. 6, La Ley 2007.
- “The European Restructuring and Insolvency Guide 2005/2006” (published by Globe White Page in association with Deutsche Bank Trust & Securities Services).
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Article and interview published in Acquisitions Monthly, Reuters – The International M&A and Buyouts Magazine, April 2009.
(*) originally published in Spanish.
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