Mohamed Bouzenada

Mohamed is a restructuring and insolvency specialist and a trusted advisor to companies and investors facing turnaround and insolvency challenges. He has recognized expertise in designing and implementing preventive, restructuring, and distressed asset solutions, covering inter alia:

• Financial restructuring and complex renegotiation of banking, tax, and social security liabilities, including the implementation of financing solutions tailored to both immediate and long-term needs;

• Pre-insolvency and out-of-court restructuring, including ad hoc mandates and conciliation proceedings, strategic diagnostics, and implementation of out-of-court solutions aimed at restoring the confidence of financial and business partners;

• Distressed M&A, with full support to industrial buyers, financial investors, and turnaround funds, including through so called prepack cession (a two-step fast-track restructuring tool designed to implement pre-arranged sales under French insolvency law);

• Continuation plans, alternative restructuring plans, and court-supervised asset sales (carve-outs).

Mohamed regularly advises companies facing liquidity pressures, shareholders engaged in alternative restructuring plans, creditors seeking to protect their rights (including management of claims filings, enforcement of security interests, and asset recovery strategies), as well as investors pursuing opportunities in distressed situations.

Accustomed to managing high-profile domestic and cross-border matters, Mohamed leads and coordinates multidisciplinary teams (corporate, finance, litigation, tax, and employment) to deliver comprehensive and tailored solutions. His in-depth knowledge of restructuring, insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings and his ability to conduct complex negotiations make him a highly regarded practitioner in strategic and sensitive cases.

Representative Matters

Preventive and Out-of-court Restructuring

• Preventive out-of-court restructuring of an innovative biotech company specializing in neurological therapies: early-stage negotiations with banking creditors to clean up the company’s financial structure and restore its financing capacity, including rescheduling maturities and optimizing banking commitments, thereby ensuring the continuation of operations, and creating favorable conditions for a €30+ million Series B fundraising
• Advised an industrial telecommunications group in a cross-border conciliation proceeding aimed at restructuring more than €20 million in bank and bond debt, while securing bridge financing from an international consortium
• Negotiated a hybrid financing package for an exporting SMB under liquidity pressure, including supplier advances, short-term credit lines, and state aid, thus avoiding insolvency proceedings
• Assisted a listed group in preventive conciliation proceedings: defined the negotiation strategy, conducted discussions with banks and bondholders, drafted a conciliation agreement submitted to and approved by the general meeting of shareholders, and coordinated with several investment funds to strengthen the company’s financial structure and maintain business continuity. The assignment also involved close interaction with the French Financial Markets Regulatory Authority (AMF) to ensure compliance with regulatory obligations and financial disclosure requirements applicable to listed companies

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Proceedings

• Advised the majority shareholder of a European industrial company facing liquidity difficulties on the implementation of an alternative restructuring plan, including disposal of assets, recapitalization, and negotiation of bank and bond debt
• Managed a continuation plan for a large hotel group, including judicial reorganization proceedings, renegotiation of commercial leases, reduction of fixed costs, and search for new financial partners to sustain operations
• Represented an international biotechnology group in safeguard proceedings, including restructuring of a portfolio of strategic patents and securing R&D financing from foreign investors

Court-Approved Acquisitions – Distressed M&A

• Advised a private equity fund on the acquisition of strategic assets from a company in judicial liquidation, including optimization of asset transfer arrangements, due diligence, and coordination with courts and court-appointed officers
• Advised an Asian investor on the acquisition of a French market-leading toy distributor placed in judicial reorganization, including risk assessment, structuring of the acquisition plan, negotiations with court-appointed agents, and restoration of post-acquisition operational liquidity
• Advised a U.S. investor on the acquisition of a French online marketplace placed in judicial reorganization, including legal and financial due diligence, structuring of the acquisition offer, and assistance with the reintegration of key employees
• Assisted an edtech company in designing and implementing a, acquisition offer that ensured business continuity, safeguarded jobs, and preserved an innovative digital learning project
• Advised a major waste management group on the acquisition of a distressed company specializing in waste treatment and recovery, which preserved 450 jobs: conducted comprehensive legal and financial due diligence, structured and optimized the acquisition offer, led negotiations with court-appointed agents, and secured the employment, environmental, and regulatory aspects of the transaction

Restructuring of Corporate Groups

• Advised the French subsidiary of an international group specializing in electronic systems for the aerospace market: renegotiated and restructured banking facilities, obtained a moratorium from public creditors, and restructured bond liabilities with a 50% write-off

Directors and Officers Liability

• Handled a complex dispute between shareholders of a distressed family-owned company concerning the control of loss-making subsidiaries and the liability of the director for asset deficiency
• Defended the director of an SMB in a liability action for asset deficiency, and developed a procedural strategy that successfully avoided any conviction and preserved the director’s ability to rebound

Backgound

• Bunch, Founding Partner, Restructuring & Business Litigation Departments, 2022-2025
• LexCase, Restructuring & Business Litigation Departments, Head of Department, 2021-2022
• Lamy Lexel, Restructuring & Business Litigation Department, Associate, 2016-2021
• CM-CIC Group, Legal Department, In-house Counsel, 2015
• Bignon Lebray, Restructuring & Business Litigation Departments, Intern, 2014

Main Publications

• L’alliance gagnante de la restructuration, Paroles d’Expert (Magazine of the French Chartered Accountants), June 2024
• Classes de parties affectées, Premiers jalons jurisprudentiels, DJCE POST, July 2025

Credentials

• Lecturer at EMLYON Business School, Grande École Program, since 2022
• Regular speaker at conferences on preventive restructuring and corporate turnaround

Professional Associations

• International Bar Association (IBA), active member of the Insolvency Section
• French Institute of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Practitioners (Institut Français des Praticiens des Procédures Collectives (IFFPC))
• French Association for Business Distress Prevention and Turnaround (Prévention & Retournement )
• Les Antilopes – Entrepreneurs solidaires (support network for business leaders in distress)
• Lyon Place Financière (Lyon-based financial and business network)

Education

• French Bar Exam (CAPA), 2016
• Postgraduate Master’s Degree in Business and Tax Law (DJCE), University Jean Moulin Lyon 3, 2013
• Specialized Certificate in Corporate Law, University of Montpellier I,
• Master’s Degree in Business Law, University Jean Moulin Lyon 3, 2012

Languages

• French
• English