Debtors › Competitive Bidding

Seventh Circuit Holds That Debtor Cannot Circumvent Bankruptcy's Absolute-Priority Rule

Unless creditors accept a debtor's plan of reorganization, bankruptcy law requires the plan to provide for the payment in full of creditors before owners of the debtor receive anything on account of their equity interest....more

Seventh Circuit Reaffirms Absolute-Priority Rule in In re Castleton Plaza, LP

Can an equity investor who directs an insider to contribute "new value" to a debtor under a plan of reorganization, so as to retain his interest in the company, avoid an express market test for that new equity? The answer to...more

Rogers Towers: Insiders as Equity Investors: Competition Protects Lenders from Absolute Priority Rule Circumvention

Under the absolute-priority rule, unpaid creditors normally receive the equity in a reorganized business. If a plan of reorganization proposes a “new value” investment in exchange for equity, however, the rule does not...more

"New Value" Plans Require Competitive Bidding, Says 7th Circuit

In a decision issued yesterday, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals held that insiders can't be given a special opportunity to invest in a bankrupt debtor under the guise of contributing "new value" unless the debtor makes the...more