Garrigues has launched a restructuring and insolvency group in a bid to target the needs of distressed businesses.

The new group will be led by Madrid-based corporate restructuring partner Antonio Fernandez.

The group will consist of a multidisciplinary team of lawyers from the Spanish firm's finance, labour and employment, corporate and commercial, real estate, tax and litigation departments.

The firm said the launch has come in response to data from Spain's National Statistics Institute which revealed that the number of formal insolvency orders in the country has almost tripled compared to last year.

Fernandez specialises in advising distressed businesses on a cross-border basis and has experience in co-ordinating refinancing and business restructuring processes, giving executive advice and providing labour law and employment solutions. He has practised with the firm since 1985.

The launch of the dedicated group marks the first strategic move taken by Garrigues' new co-managing partners Fernando Vives and Ricardo Gomez. The firm voted in the pair – who also head the corporate/M&A and tax departments respectively – in July this year. They took office earlier this month (1 September).

The duo took over from former co-heads Miguel Gordillo and Jose Maria Alonso, who had run the leading Spanish firm for nearly a decade, having first taken office in 2000.

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