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The ABCs of ABCs, Business Bankruptcy, & Corporate Restructuring/Insolvency Who are you? Maybe your company needs to file chapter 11. Or one of your customers recently filed. Or maybe a competitor is in (or is rumored to be close to filing) chapter 11. Maybe you’re thinking about getting into the corporate restructuring industry yourself. Regardless of your answer, if what you’re after is a tour of the turnaround, restructuring, and insolvency industry (the “Industry”), you came to the right place. A Little History About Law & Economics The Industry began […]
What Can An Ancient Greek Playwright Tell Us About Bankruptcy? Some of the best lessons on fraud and deceit in bankruptcy were written around 2,500 years ago. Yes, all the way back in 423 B.C., the Greek playwright Aristophanes offered his thoughts for posterity in his comic play “The Clouds,” which tells the story of Strepsiades, a man unable to even sleep because of the huge debts his son has incurred. The play chronicles his various attempts to learn the art of “Unjust” argument from Socrates and the sophists, so […]
A Series on the ABCs of ABCs, Business Bankruptcy & Corporate Restructuring/Insolvency Since a judge presides over a chapter 11 proceeding, one might assume that a chapter 11 case is like any other commercial litigation matter, with one party on each side of the case: a plaintiff and a defendant. One would be wrong (Felix Unger taught us what happens when we “ass-u-me”). In this installment of our series on business bankruptcy, restructuring and insolvency, we look at debtors, chapter 11 trustees, types of creditors and other parties involved in […]
A Series on the ABCs of ABCs, Business Bankruptcy & Corporate Restructuring/Insolvency Greetings, Dear Reader: It seems you’re interested in learning how to deal with corporate distress, and we’re glad you’re here. But let’s first make sure you got on the right plane. Maybe you… Are a C-suite executive of a business that’s considering buying a failing competitor on the cheap Manage a private equity or hedge fund Are a junior associate in the restructuring or special situations group of a law, investment banking, or accounting firm Are a credit […]
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: How do I know if I should request relief from a debtor’s automatic stay? ANSWER: What is the Automatic Stay? Section 362 of the Bankruptcy Code provides for the automatic stay. The automatic stay, triggered immediately upon the debtor’s filing of a bankruptcy petition, bars nearly all actions against the debtor and its property, including actions to exercise […]
An Unfortunate Case for Unsecured Creditors A settlement agreement in the Mega RV Corp. bankruptcy highlighted the interplay between an overzealous lender and a repentant business owner who came together to cooperate and provide a windfall recovery to unsecured creditors. Ultimately, through the machinations of the bankruptcy case, the settlement proved to be insufficient to provide the windfall that was optimistically expected only a short time earlier. Who is Mega RV? Mega RV was founded in 2000 by Mike McMahon as McMahon’s RV. They were in the business of selling […]
The Legal Requirements to Cram Down a Plan on Creditors By filing a chapter 11 petition, the debtor seizes the initiative in proposing a reorganization plan—which is to provide how soon, in what amount and in what manner creditors’ claims are paid.[i] But a debtor does not necessarily get its way. A class of creditors who are not getting paid in full may reject the plan, which will prevent confirmation on a consensual basis. Ah, but the debtor may, by fulfilling additional requirements, “cram down” the plan on those […]
Navigating an Extreme Environment as CRO The position of Chief Restructuring Officer or CRO is not well defined or understood. This role does not have as much history as the more traditional positions such as CFO, CEO or President. In turn, this leaves room for much misunderstanding. The CRO may be thought of as simply a position that works through Bankruptcy, rationalizes a workforce, repositions marketing or deals with re-financing or disposition of assets. It may indeed include all of these and much more. There also does not seem to […]
A Practical Guide to Assessing Legal Risk and Potentially Fraudulent Transfers “One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure.” -William & Robert Chambers Journal of popular literature, science and arts (1879) “A little learning is a dangerous thing” -Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism (1709) Buying operating assets from a financially distressed seller can present a fantastic opportunity to buy low. Before doing so, however, any buyer must take into account a host of considerations. These include, but aren’t limited to, operational, competitive, integration and legal issues, such as […]
While providing numerous advantages to the companies that choose to invoke it, Chapter 11 also imposes significant and sometimes burdensome public reporting obligations on them – hence the metaphor of the opened kimono. Because of the debtor’s reporting obligations, creditors and other parties with an interest in the Chapter 11 case (such as potential purchasers of assets and claims investors) gain access to a vast amount of financial, operational, and other information that would often not be available outside of bankruptcy. This article describes information about a debtor that typically […]