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Understanding California Receiverships Through California CCP Editors’ Note: This is part of our irregular series in which we answer readers’ questions. If you have a question, submit it to [email protected] and we will try to answer it. Question: Jeffrey B. asks: Wwhere is a good starting place to understand California receiverships? Let’s address these receiverships and the powers afforded in their appointment. Answer: The California receivership statutory scheme, encompassed in California Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”) sections 564 to 570 and California Rules of Court sections 3.1175 to 3.1184, […]
The market has changed a lot since our last look at convertible bonds about six months ago. Not only has the stock market been shaken by the potential fall-out from the Covid-19 stay-at-home orders, but also interest rates have fallen sharply. The market has shown resilience, but risks clearly remain as the economic recovery may not happen as quickly as investors expect. Convertible bonds and convertible preferred stocks can provide investors with possible participation in future gains in the underlying common stock, along with attractive yields, while providing some measure […]
With the sharp slowdown in the economy, bank stocks have declined significantly, and, unlike the broad S&P 500 Index, have not recovered much of their lost value. Year-to-date, our universe of 180 bank stocks has declined 31%, compared to the 6% decline in the broad market. Driving the weak shares are concerns over higher credit losses, particularly in commercial real estate and small/medium business loans. Banks have begun to increase their reserves, but the extent of further losses is not fully known. A new accounting rule (Current Expected Credit Losses, […]
Pacifying a Hostile Lender with a Motion to Substitute Collateral Can a Chapter 11 debtor confirm a plan that gives a hostile secured creditor a lien on an orange as a substitute, in essence, for the secured creditor’s lien on an apple that the debtor wants to keep and use?1 Yes, a motion to substitute collateral is valid if the value of the new lien meets the “indubitable equivalent” test with the value of the original lien. Substitute Collateral in Apples and Oranges Assume that the land-rich but cash-poor Chapter […]
The SBA’s Views, Court Rulings and Options for Your Company You need to restructure your debt and/or deal as soon as possible with assertive creditors. You want to preserve your company, and you would benefit (or already have benefited) from Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds as a bridge. What do you do? Can you risk Chapter 11? Are PPP loans for Chapter 11 debtors available? If not, what are your options? The CARES Act – which has led to two rounds of funding thus far – has proven to be […]
When is Your Company’s Attorney-Client Communication No Longer a Secret? Imagine if every secret and strategy that you had ever shared with your attorney were laid open for the world to see. A trustee in a business bankruptcy case may well have the power to review, publish, and wield all of the debtor’s attorney-client communication, including those communications that the debtor’s principals reasonably believed were permanently encased in a fortress of secrecy. The trustee can thus gain major ammunition for claims against insiders, business partners, vendors, attorneys, accountants, advisors, […]
Considerations for Distressed Private Equity You are a PE fund manager. Your fund employs a loan-to-own strategy (also referred to as distressed private equity) to effect take-overs of target companies. You are accustomed to exerting powerful leverage in chapter 11 cases, particularly when you buy enough claims to confirm a plan or to block confirmation of a plan by other parties. For a plan to be approved consensually, each class of claims or interests must approve it. Approval by a class of claims requires a “yes” vote by a […]
Is the Jury In or Out on Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Gifts? The gifting doctrine in bankruptcy is not new and often is used to obtain creditor consensus to a debtor’s proposed exit—either through a chapter 11 plan or a Section 363 sale. Bankruptcy “gifts” typically involve a structurally senior class voluntarily giving some of its property or distribution to a structurally junior class of creditors or equity holders. Bankruptcy courts across the nation have reached differing and, at times, seemingly inconsistent decisions regarding the gifting doctrine. Some courts view […]
How You Can Use Your Personal Experience and Expertise to Formulate and Investment Thesis It’s time to take an in-depth look at distressed debt investing and how you can use your personal experience in conjunction with company valuation methods to make decisions. Most investors will want to enter the distressed investing space by relying on the expertise of various funds that focus on these types of investments. Thus, I’ll address here the constraints that an individual investor faces and how one who is determined to make his or her […]
Application of Section 503(b)(1)(A) and 503(b)(9) in the Sears Chapter 11 Filing Precedent setting rulings in the Sears chapter 11 case could radically alter how vendors support companies who file for bankruptcy in the future. Historically the presumption and practice in the vast majority of bankruptcy cases has been that vendors receive priority status for goods delivered beginning not only 20 days prior to the filing, but also continuing after the filing. Bankruptcy code Section 503(b)(9) applies to goods delivered prior to the petition, and Section 503(b)(1)(A) applies afterwards. Because […]