Sea Containers calls on AlixPartners to aid restructuring

Sea Containers calls on AlixPartners to aid restructuring London-based Sea Containers Ltd., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States in October, has appointed financial advisory firm AlixPartners to assist with a corporate restructuring plan.
   This engagement will result in a number of senior management changes at Sea Containers, subject to U.S. court approval. The most significant change will see Laura Barlow, a managing director in AlixPartners’ London office, appointed as Sea Containers’ senior vice president, chief restructuring officer, effective from this month and chief financial officer from May 1.
   Barlow will succeed Ian Durant, who has been CFO since January 2005. Durant will be elected as a director of Sea Containers and will continue to serve as the company’s appointed director of GE SeaCo, its joint venture container leasing business with General Electric.
   Durrant, who also acted as interim chief executive officer during autumn 2005, has overseen the sale of a number of the company’s assets, including its Baltic ferry subsidiary Silja to Estonian ferry operator Tallink for the $585 million last July.
   “We thank Ian Durant for his sterling efforts, particularly during difficult times,” said Robert Mackenzie, Sea Containers’ CEO. “The proposed appointment of AlixPartners reflects the nature of the U.S. Chapter 11 process in terms of an increasing requirement for technical restructuring skills, specialist legal tax needs and a diminishing emphasis on operational business management and transactional support.”