Mayer Brown strengthens its restructuring, bankruptcy insolvency practice with the additions of Adam Paul and Louis-Chiappetta [Mayer Brown; Aug. 2, 2019/Aug. 26, 2019]
The Wall Street Journal reports on a new uptick in oil and gas bankruptcies as new concerns arise in the industry [WSJ; August 30, 2019]
U.S. economy adds only 130,000 jobs in
Brazil’s Odebrecht Files for Bankruptcy in U.S. [WSJ; August 26, 2019]
Ditech plan rejected as judge finds that company can’t sell mortgage-servicing rights and reverse-mortgage business free and clear of consumer claims [Bloomberg; August 28, 2019]
In recent weeks, the dispute in Windstream’s bankruptcy between Windstream and its REIT spinoff Uniti Group over the lease transaction that ultimately led to Windstream’s chapter 11 bankruptcy has continued to escalate with Windstream filing an adversary complaint against Uniti. In its complaint, Windstream seeks to recharacterize the lease as a disguised financing alleging that the lease resulted in a long-term transfer of billions of dollars to Uniti to the detriment of Windstream’s creditors. The debtors’ complaint also alleges that they were insolvent no later than the third quarter of 2017, and argues that the above-market rent payments and tenant capital improvements they were required to make under the lease constitute constructively fraudulent transfers, as the debtors have not received reasonably equivalent value under the lease.
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Bloomberg reports on slowing U.S. growth as trade wars weigh on businesses [Yahoo News, Bloomberg; July 26, 2019]
Windstream’s dispute with its REIT spinoff Uniti heats up, as Windstream seeks to recharacterize its $650 million-per-year lease agreement with Uniti as a disguised financing [Law360; July 25, 2019]
Virginia congressman’s bill on small business bankruptcy reform
Powell Flags Rate Cut as Global Chill Outweighs Good U.S. News [Bloomberg; July 10, 2019]
A Lehman Survivor Is Prepping For The Next Credit Downturn [Financial Advisor; July 9, 2019]
The Momentive Performance Materials bankruptcy resulted in a number of disputes on issues germane to bankruptcy practitioners, including on intercreditor agreements (as we wrote about here), the enforceability of makewhole premiums and the proper interest rate in the context of a Chapter 11 cramdown plan. On that third issue, Judge Drain entered an order on remand in April addressing the proper cram-down rate for two classes of senior noteholders that had been issued replacement notes under Momentive’s Chapter 11 plan. Given the notices of appeal filed just days later, it looked like another round of appellate review might occur. But on May 15, Momentive announced that it had elected to refinance those notes, resulting in a voluntary dismissal of the appeals.
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Could the US already be in a recession? [USA Today; June 25, 2019]
Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board proposes bankruptcy plan framework that would cut debt payments by half over the next 30 years [CNBC; June 16, 2019]
As part of proposed agreement between CFPB, attorneys general from 43 states and defunct for-profit
On June 19, Nicole Saharsky, co-leader of Mayer Brown’s Supreme Court & Appellate practice, discussed how free enterprise fared in the latest US Supreme Court term. A webinar of the program is available here.
As discussed in our earlier post, during this term, Nicole and a Mayer Brown team which included partner (and
In this four-part You Tube series, Mayer Brown partner Jason Elder offers practical insights on high-yield debt for Asia-based issuers seeking to understand important covenants and trends.
Supreme Court agrees to review constitutional challenge to board overseeing bankrupt Puerto Rico’s finances [WSJ; June 20, 2019]
The question of whether a debtor’s plan of reorganization can include non-consensual releases for non-debtor parties has been hotly contested for several years, with circuit courts oftentimes split. In his recent decision on the topic in the Aegean case, New York Southern District Bankruptcy Judge Michael E. Wiles explored the limitations on such releases even