Katie Higgins has extensive experience advising companies, financiers, insolvency practitioners, investors, and directors on restructuring and insolvency matters. She also advises companies and financiers on a wide variety of debt and structured capital markets transactions. Katie is consistently recognized as a leading insolvency, restructuring, and finance lawyer by legal directories.
Some of Katie's recent transactions include acting for: the largest single creditor in the Virgin Australia administration; a large medical imaging diagnostics company in the restructuring of a A$260m facility provided by Dignari Capital; the administrators of Topshop/Topman, Payless Shoes, and American Apparel; the Insurance Commission of Western Australia in the $1.8 billion settlement of the Bell Group liquidation proceedings; Electricite de France in relation to the Paladin Energy administration; Peabody Energy Corporation in the Australian aspects of its U.S. chapter 11 filing and financing associated with its emergence from chapter 11; a major investor and financier in the administration of Aussie Farmers Group; and a key shipper and owner of WICET (Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal) in the 2018 restructure of WICET's senior debt facilities.
Katie's recent transactions also involve a number of debt financing matters, including acting for: Hornblower Group in the financing of its acquisition of Australia's leading experiential travel group, Journey Beyond; Ansarada in various pre-listing convertible note rounds; Coronado Global Resources in acquisition financing provided in connection with its $700m acquisition of Curragh mine and the 2021 refinancing of its facilities with US$350m high yield bonds and US$100m asset-backed loan; and Peabody in its US$250m receivables finance facility with PNC Bank.
Experience
"Highly commercial, highly competent and exceedingly dedicated to ensuring that the best outcomes are achieved."Chambers Asia-Pacific
- University of Sydney (LL.B. Hons. 1 2000; B.A. 1998)
- Supreme Court of New South Wales and High Court of Australia
Best Lawyers: recognized in the areas of banking and finance, restructuring and insolvency, and distressed debt trading (2019-2023)
Doyle's Guide: restructuring and insolvency, New South Wales (2016-2021)
Chambers Asia-Pacific: Australia, restructuring and insolvency (2021, 2022)
Legal 500 Australia: restructuring and insolvency (2022)
Member of the: Australian Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association (ARITA), INSOL International, and the Turnaround Management Association (TMA)