It has been an interesting year-to-date in the Asia Pacific1 Region, particularly in the Mainland2 and Hong Kong3 as the Region has pivoted from COVID-zero to reopening its borders to the world. Given the number of larger scale Mainland property-related restructurings that were promulgated during the pandemic it is fair to say that at least amongst some in the profession, there were great (restructuring) expectations of 2023. This next wave of restructurings has not yet eventuated. Why?
Asia restructuring considerations & observations
1. State of the Restructuring Market
1.1 Market Trends and Changes
State of the Restructuring and Insolvency Market
There were 27,359 insolvencies in France as of the end of September 2021, down 25.1% from the same period in 2020, and down 47.9% from September 2019. Such reduction is relatively stable across all sectors, including those most severely affected by the health-related restrictions, such as accommodation and food services (down 44.2% year-on-year) and trade (down 28.1% year on year).
Fewer Insolvencies for More Opportunities
At the end of 2021, corporate bankruptcies (for most company sizes and in most sectors) were at their lowest level compared to the pre-COVID-19 figures from 2019, with a 50% drop in insolvency proceedings and a 10% decrease in pre-insolvency situations. This was largely due to the temporary impact of government emergency measures and support, including: