Steinhoff restructuring: The Dutch suspension of payments as an excellent tool for the restructuring of mass litigation claims

Introduction

The Netherlands played a key role in the global restructuring of the Steinhoff group, which was one of the largest restructurings in 2021. Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. (Steinhoff NV) entered into a Dutch suspension of payments to restructure its debt. In essence, it restructured €14 billion in debt from approximately 66,000 creditors, including mass litigation claimants. This sets a ground-breaking precedent for successful international restructurings of mass litigation claims, which can also be useful for other forms of restructurings involving a significant amount of creditors (e.g., bond debt restructurings).