One of the biggest bondholder-led restructurings for more than a year has gifted roles to a quartet of leading firms.

Allen & Overy (A&O) is advising German vehicle parts company Schefenacker on its €420m (£281m) restructuring, while Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, Bingham McCutchen and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are advising the creditors.

The restructuring sees A&O, led by restructuring and insolvency partner David Frauman, advising Schefenacker, which is attempting to reach a restructuring agreement with a range of creditors, including London hedge funds, pension funds and German retail investors.

Bingham insolvency partner James Roome is advising a committee of bondholders, alongside financial adviser Close Brothers. The firm was instructed around a month ago after an informal pitch.

The restructuring includes €220m (£147m) of senior debt and €200m (£134m) of bonds.

Cadwalader, led by restructuring partner Andrew Wilkinson, is advising the second lien debt holders, having pitched for the work against Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins.

Freshfields, led by restructuring and insolvency partner Ken Baird in London and dispute resolution partner Lars Westpfahl in Germany, is advising GE as one of the senior lenders to the company.

City insolvency partners claim that Schefenacker is further evidence of the restructuring market picking up, on the back of new bondholder instructions in the past year, including those relating to De Novo Pharmaceuticals, Sea Containers, and UK aerospace company Luxfer – in each of which Bingham had a role.

Another example is French Global Automotive Logistics, which saw Cadwalader advising some of the bondholders.

The process will be watched for signs of a return of restructuring work, which a number of restructuring practitioners are expecting to involve a heavy bondholder element. However, one insolvency partner commented: "The restructuring market is still extraordinarily quiet."