A bedrock principle underlying chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code is that creditors, shareholders, and other stakeholders should be provided with adequate information to make an informed decision to either accept or reject a...more
Section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code provides that the reversal or modification of an order approving a sale or lease of assets in bankruptcy does not affect the validity of the sale or lease to a good-faith purchaser or...more
In Short -
The Situation: The U.S. Supreme Court considered whether § 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code, which limits a party's ability to undo an asset transfer made to a good-faith purchaser in a bankruptcy case, is...more
4/26/2023
/ 363 Sales ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debtors ,
Jurisdiction ,
MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v Transform Holdco LLC ,
Mootness ,
Sale of Assets ,
SCOTUS ,
Sears ,
Section 363
Lawyer Spotlights: Genna Ghaul and Nicholas J. Morin -
The Year in Bankruptcy: 2022 -
A brief chronicle of the year's notable developments in corporate bankruptcy and restructuring, including business bankruptcy...more
The ability of a bankruptcy trustee or chapter 11 debtor-in-possession ("DIP") to assume, assume and assign, or reject executory contracts and unexpired leases is an important tool designed to promote a "fresh start" for...more
In Stream TV Networks, Inc. v. SeeCubic, Inc., 2022 WL 2149437 (Del. June 15, 2022), the Delaware Supreme Court vacated and reversed a 2020 ruling by the Delaware Court of Chancery that the assets of Stream TV Networks, Inc....more
Bankruptcy and appellate courts disagree over the standard that should apply to a request for payment of a break-up fee or expense reimbursement to the losing bidder in a sale of the debtor’s assets outside the ordinary...more
MODIFICATION OF SECURED LOAN UNDER CRAMDOWN CHAPTER 11 PLAN WARRANTED DUE TO PLAN FEASIBILITY THREAT -
Many recent court rulings concerning the treatment of secured creditors under a chapter 11 plan have focused on...more
3/31/2022
/ Absolute Priority Rule ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Certiorari ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 15 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Cramdown ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Foreign Bankruptcies ,
Hertz ,
Make-Whole Premium ,
Reorganizations ,
SCOTUS
Secured Lender’s Credit Bid Right In Bankruptcy Sale Denied -
A secured creditor’s right to “credit bid” the amount of its allowed claim in a bankruptcy sale of its collateral is an important creditor protection codified...more
In In re Energy Future Holdings Corp., 990 F.3d 728 (3d Cir. 2021), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that even though a "stalking horse" bidder failed to obtain necessary regulatory approvals to close an...more
Madoff -
In what may be the beginning of the final chapter of more than a decade of litigation involving efforts to recover $41 million of the fictitious profits paid to certain investors in Bernard Madoff's defunct...more
7/22/2021
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Bernie Madoff ,
Chapter 11 ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Fraud ,
Investment Funds ,
Investors ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
SCOTUS ,
SIPA
In This Issue:
First Impressions: Third Circuit Scuttles Triangular Setoff in Bankruptcy -
In In re Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., 990 F.3d 748 (3d Cir. 2021), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled as a...more
5/27/2021
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 7 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Leveraged Buyout ,
Mootness ,
Mutuality ,
Safe Harbors
On October 26, 2020, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas issued a long-awaited ruling on whether natural gas exploration and production company Ultra Petroleum Corp. ("UPC") must pay a make-whole...more
One year ago, we wrote that the large business bankruptcy landscape in 2019 was generally shaped by economic, market, and leverage factors, with notable exceptions for disastrous wildfires, liabilities arising from the opioid...more
A basic tenet of bankruptcy law, premised on the legal separateness of a debtor prior to filing for bankruptcy and the estate created upon a bankruptcy filing, is that prepetition debts are generally treated differently than...more
12/14/2020
/ Administrative Expenses ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 7 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Returns
In the latest chapter of more than a decade of contentious litigation surrounding the 2007 leveraged buyout ("LBO") and ensuing bankruptcy of media conglomerate Tribune Co. ("Tribune"), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third...more
A basic tenet of bankruptcy law, premised on the legal separateness of a debtor prior to filing for bankruptcy and the estate created upon a bankruptcy filing, is that prepetition debts are generally treated differently than...more
3/2/2020
/ Administrative Expenses ,
Administrative Priority ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Bifurcation ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 7 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Congressional Intent ,
Debtors ,
Gross Receipts Tax ,
Income Taxes ,
Legislative History ,
Tax Liability
In the July/August 2019 issue of the Business Restructuring Review, we discussed a landmark decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in In re Ultra Petroleum Corp., 913 F.3d 533(5th Cir. 2019) ("Ultra I")....more
Chapter 11 Plan Distributions Are Not Collateral Covered by Intercreditor Agreement's Waterfall Provision -
In In re Energy Future Holdings Corp., 2019 WL 2535700 (3d Cir. June 19, 2019), a panel of the U.S. Court of...more
9/26/2019
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Reform ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 15 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Cross-Border ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Debtors ,
Financial Institutions ,
Insolvency ,
Trump Administration
In In re Energy Future Holdings Corp., 2019 WL 2535700 (3d Cir. June 19, 2019), a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that adequate protection payments made during a bankruptcy case and...more
In This Issue:
Washington District Court Overturns Approval of Third-Party Releases in a Settlement Agreement and Related Free-and-Clear Sale -
In In re Fraser’s Boiler Serv., Inc., 2019 WL 1099713 (D. Wash. Mar. 18,...more
8/21/2019
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Bankruptcy Discharge Order ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 15 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debt Collection ,
FERC ,
Foreign Debt ,
PG&E ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Taggart v Lorenzen
In In re Ultra Petroleum Corp., 913 F.3d 533(5th Cir. 2019), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that a "make-whole," or "prepayment," premium owed on unsecured notes issued by a chapter 11 debtor...more
In In re Tribune Co. Fraudulent Conveyance Litig., 2019 WL 1771786 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 23, 2019), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a litigation trustee’s motion to amend a complaint seeking to...more
6/19/2019
/ Avoidance ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Creditors ,
Debtors ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
Intermediaries ,
Leveraged Buyout ,
Merit Management Group v FTI Consulting ,
Safe Harbors ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 546(e) ,
Split of Authority ,
Trustees
Amid the explosion of trading in claims against distressed and bankrupt entities, courts in recent years have issued numerous rulings of interest to both buyers and sellers. Notable decisions have addressed, among other...more
10/12/2018
/ Anti-Assignment Clauses ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Breach of Contract ,
Business Transfer Agreements ,
Cause of Action Accrual ,
Caveat Emptor ,
Chapter 11 ,
Disallowance Defense ,
Equitable Subordination ,
Promissory Notes ,
State Law Tort Claims ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
On February 27, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a highly anticipated ruling resolving a long-standing circuit split over the scope of the Bankruptcy Code’s "safe harbor" provision exempting certain securities transaction...more
4/19/2018
/ Avoidance ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
Intermediaries ,
Merit Management Group v FTI Consulting ,
Safe Harbors ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 546(e) ,
Split of Authority