April 2, 2014
What do a German-based manufacturer, a Bahrain-based investment bank operating in accordance with Shari’ah law, and a chemical company based in The Netherlands have in common? They are three of the largest non-U.S. based companies that have used chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code as a means to solve their global restructuring issues; and Gibson Dunn has represented the debtors in two of the three cases.
As the global economy becomes more intertwined, the restructuring alternatives available to international companies continue to expand. The United States has the most developed yet flexible body of restructuring law available to companies inside and outside of the U.S., along with the power to enforce it. Even when the goal is an out-of-court restructuring, an agreement among creditors is typically forged based on the consequences of what creditors could expect to receive (or be forced to accept) in a non-consensual bankruptcy case. Therefore, an early understanding of the benefits of the United States Bankruptcy Code as potentially the most powerful tool in a company’s restructuring tool box is essential when a company is first considering its restructuring alternatives.
Once thought to be out-of-reach for non-U.S. companies, or unlikely to be effective in situations in which creditors are largely based outside of the U.S., the use or threatened use of chapter 11 is becoming the tool of choice for large cross-border enterprises in need of financial restructuring. U.S. courts are showing an ever-increasing willingness to accept jurisdiction over global companies with limited connections to the U.S., courts in other countries are honoring chapter 11 restructurings with ever increasing frequency, and creditors are forced to respect the orders of U.S. courts because, in today’s global economy, creditors based outside of the U.S. are likely to have assets and interests in the United States. Chapter 11 has proven to be an effective vehicle to promote consensus, to enable existing management to retain control during the restructuring process, to facilitate creative restructuring plans, to encourage the infusion of new financing because of the legal protections afforded lenders and, because of the specter of U.S. court-ordered sanctions that are enforceable globally against creditors’ assets, to bind recalcitrant creditors to outcomes they might have otherwise ignored.
As pioneers in the application of chapter 11 to cross-border cases, Gibson Dunn presents this webinar to provide an overview of chapter 11 and to discuss how chapter 11 can be effectively used by companies located virtually anywhere in the world to facilitate both in-court and out-of-court global restructurings.
PANELISTS:
Steven Buffone (Partner – Gibson Dunn, New York)
Steve is a partner in the New York office of Gibson Dunn and Co-Chair of the Energy and Infrastructure Practice Group. Mr. Buffone has represented clients in mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings and bankruptcies, public and private issuances of debt and equity securities, venture capital financings, and general corporate counseling.
Craig Millet (Partner – Gibson Dunn, Orange County)
Craig is a partner in the Orange County office of Gibson Dunn and Co-Chair of the Business Restructuring and Reorganization Practice Group. Mr. Millet has extensive experience in complex bankruptcy and commercial litigation before the Bankruptcy Court, the United States District Court, the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He also has extensive experience in chapter 11 reorganization from both the debtor and creditor perspective, in asset acquisition through bankruptcy, international and cross-border bankruptcy, and in out-of-court workouts and restructuring.
Michael Rosenthal (Partner – Gibson Dunn, New York)
Michael is a partner in the New York office of Gibson Dunn and Co-Chair of the Business Restructuring and Reorganization Practice Group. Mr. Rosenthal has extensive experience in reorganizing distressed businesses and related corporate reorganization and debt restructuring matters. He has represented complex, financially distressed companies, both in out-of-court restructurings and in pre-packaged, pre-negotiated and freefall chapter 11 cases, acquirors of distressed assets and investors in distressed businesses.
Jeffrey Trinklein (Partner – Gibson Dunn, New York)
Jeff is a partner in the New York office of Gibson Dunn and is a member of the International Tax Practice Group. Mr. Trinklein has extensive experience in U.S. and international taxation, with special emphasis on advice to foreign clients with investments in the United States and advice to U.S. clients with foreign operations. His areas of practice include advice to U.S. individuals and companies establishing investments outside the U.S., planning advice on worldwide investment structures and acquisition financing, and general U.S. corporate and partnership tax planning.
Daniel Ehrmann (Managing Director – Alvarez & Marsal, New York)
Daniel is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal in New York, where he focuses on developing and implementing operational turnarounds as an adviser or in an interim management capacity. He has led companies through significant change by developing and implementing operating improvement plans across industries.