Sidley Austin’s London-based international finance group restructured approximately €3.5bn ($4.7bn) of debt including around €1.13bn of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) notes issued by Fleet Street Finance Two. The transaction is the first CMBS securitization in Germany to be fundamentally restructured and is one of the largest and most complex restructurings in the German market. The principal reason for the restructuring was the sole underlying tenant, Karstadt, going into bankruptcy in Germany. The restructuring included an extension of the maturity of the various classes of bonds issued in the CMBS by Fleet Street Finance Two and an increase in the coupon payable to certain classes of bondholders. “The restructuring of the CMBS Notes could pave the way for the renegotiation of billions of euros of complex property financings,” Sidley Austin said in a statement. “Many investors in CMBS have struggled to restructure these complex financings as the property backing them has plummeted in value.”