What the Pros Say (Week of 11/20/16)

Things must have slowed down as a lot of professionals are putting pen to paper...

  • Dead Malls. FTI Consulting provides an analysis.  
  • Deathtraps. Proskauer LLP's Daniel Desatnik discusses "death traps" as a tool in restructurings.
  • Default Interest. Troutman Sanders LLP's Penelope Parmes, Matthew Brooks and Meghan Wells discuss a recent Ninth Circuit decision.
  • Distressed Oil & Gas. Haynes & Boone LLP's Charles Beckham and Opportune LLP's Ryan Bouley discuss distressed debt and oil and gas bankruptcy. 
  • Election. Oaktree Capital Management's Howard Marks follows up on his pre-election letter with these insights.
  • Jevic. Rebecca Hollander of Cole Schotz LLP discusses the upcoming Supreme Court hearing.
  • LLC Blockers. Nancy Peterman of Greenberg Traurig LLP discusses blocking rights in LLC operating agreements. 
  • Make-Whole Analysis. Bracewell's Evan Flashen, David Lawton and Mark Dendinger review the Third Circuit's reversing opinion. As do Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP's Adam Harris, Lawrence Gelber, Michael Cook, and Lucy Kweskin here.
  • Retail and Consumer Products. FTI Consulting released its 2016 Holiday Retail Report.
  • Shipping. Bracewell's Evan Flaschen and Mark Dendinger are prolific this week, also addressing the increasingly distressed shipping space. Seward & Kissel LLP's John Ashmead, Michael Timpone, and Robert Gayda also address the distressed shipping space - highly relevant in light of this week's crazy drybulk shipper movements (see Dryships).

News for the Week of 10/16/16

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  • In Australia, alternative capital providers like Oaktree and Bain Capital Credit look to replace banks pulling back from risky lending amidst the increasingly distressed commodities bust.
  • Last week, we discussed Chicago's stress and efforts there to stem the tide. Here is a more technical look at Chicago's options and whether it can even go the Detroit route.
  • Here is an interesting list of the worst corporate M&A flops, some of which are familiar to restructuring professionals, e.g., KMart/Sears.  
  • Number of new pianos sold in the US is down nearly 1/3 since 2005, a fact that may force Paulson & Co. to navigate loan defaults for portfolio company, Steinway Musical Instruments.
  • As predicted last week, Relativity Media inches closer to a Chapter 7 liquidation mere months after emerging from Chapter 11. 
  • On the heels of Cosi and Garden Fresh both filing for chapter 11 recently and grocers like A&P, Haggen, and Fresh&Easy having already filed, food is filling the docket more than our stomachs these days. Along these lines, the news that Amazon is now pursuing fresh groceries has raised eyebrows and called into question, generally, the "Amazon effect":