Macfarlanes and Allen & Overy (A&O) have scored roles as care home operator Four Seasons Healthcare restructured its £1.5bn debt pile after more than a year of negotiations with lenders.

The deal, which signed last week (28 October), saw some 30 lenders agreeing a debt-for-equity swap that effectively halves Four Seasons' debt to around £780m and leaves primary lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) with a 40% stake in the company.

Macfarlanes advised longstanding client Four Seasons on the restructuring, with corporate partner Ian Martin heading a team including investment fund finance head Bronwen Jones.

A&O represented new client, Hatfield Philips, which acted as servicer to the senior lenders. London restructuring head Earl Griffith led the firm's team, with the deal marking one of the first commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) restructurings in the UK in which a servicer has been appointed to represent the lenders interests.

The lenders, which were spread across 11 tranches of debt, were represented by a raft of firms. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised a group of six lenders, including RBS, on the restructuring, with finance partner Simon Johnson leading a team. Other firms representing lenders include Weil Gotshal & Manges, Slaughter and May, Linklaters and Ashurst.

Martin said: "Not only is this one of the largest fully consensual restructurings achieved, but it is also precedent for the expected wave of this type of work as the CMBS debt mountain comes up for maturity over the next few years."