Jeff Roberts Partner, Head of Insolvency and Restructuring

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    Expertise

    Jeff Roberts is a Partner in Memery Crystal’s Corporate department, and the head of Insolvency and Restructuring.

    Jeff is an insolvency practitioner with expertise dealing with turnarounds, and contentious and non-contentious insolvencies. He acts for administrators and liquidators with a wide client base in this area. Jeff also acts for clients being sued by insolvency practitioners and on behalf of clients purchasing insolvent businesses. He also acts for boards of directors during a turnaround.

    His practice primarily focuses on businesses in trouble resulting from either financial distress, shareholder or board disputes or breaches of warranty claims arising from mergers, acquisitions, or sales.

    Jeff also has significant experience working for clients on Private Equity matters and has a large, long-term client base in this area.

    Jeff works closely with clients to devise cost-effective strategies to achieve their objectives.

    Jeff is a Fellow of R3 (Association of Business Recovery Professionals).

    "Jeff's ability to get to the heart of insolvency/turnaround problems immediately is a great skill. Jeff gives speedy and responsive advice, which is focused and practical and set in a commercial context. This has been of enormous value to me over the years."

    Colin Haig, Head of Restructuring at Azets

    In detail

    Recent experience

    • Acted for Auréa Group, Mike Jatania and Paul Raphaël’s growth capital firm, to acquire the business and assets of the Global beauty brand The Body Shop, from its Administrators Geoff Rowley, Anthony Wright, and Alastair Massey of FRP Advisory. The Insolvency and Restructuring Team acted on the existing security analysis and the releases required and the insolvency aspects of the Sale and purchase agreement. The Corporate team lead by Nick Alfillé and Chris Allen worked on the corporate aspects of the deal, the Banking Team worked on the funding arrangements, The CIPT Team worked on the branding, franchise and operational IP, and the Employment, Property and Tax teams were heavily involved.
    • Acted for Paul Appleton and Paul Cooper of Begbies Traynor the administrators of the online toy retailer Bargainmax to sell the business and assets to preserve customers’ orders and prepayments and the Employees’ jobs.
    • Acted on both the insolvency and banking side on a credit bid for Mike Jatania to acquire the Shaun Leane Jewellery designs and stock from Paul Appleton and Adam Sharma of Begbies Traynor – administrators of Thornrose – Shaun Leane’s vehicle preserving the workforce and the beautiful jewellery.
    • Acting for a buyer of an online business against sellers for fraudulent misrepresentation and breach of warranty and using the proceeds of the settlement to fund a pre-pack administration using a credit bid.*
    • Action for a client on the turnaround of a supplier of building products in the domestic market and also regarding a byside cartel.*
    • Acting for a purchaser of litigation claims against manufacturers in the motor industry for cartelistic anti-competitive price fixing.*
    • Acting for insolvency practitioners and a purchaser of litigation claims in several actions against directors of various companies for misfeasance and breach of trust.*
    • Acting for a founder of a food processing business against an equity investor for unfair prejudice.*
    • Acting on behalf of a partner involved in a dispute regarding the dissolution of the partnership. Achieved a successful result with the dispute being settled and the acquisition of the partnership at a proper valuation.*
    • Acting for various clients in the acquisition of several businesses.*

    *Includes experience prior to joining the firm. 

    Career history

    2023 – Present: Partner, Memery Crystal 

    2010 to 2023: Partner, Collyer Bristow

    1994 to 2010: Partner, Collins Benson Goldhill

    1991 to 1994: Partner, Edge and Ellison (now Squire Saunders Boggis)

    1987 to 1991: Senior Associate, Booth & Co (now Addleshaw Goddard)

    1980 to 1987: Trainee and Senior Associate, Gouldens (now Jones Day)

    Education: 

    • Coventry University (B.A., hons.) 
    • College of Law, CPE and LSF