We are well-known for our ability to attain consensus among parties with competing interests, optimize client relationships with debtor companies, and secure maximum claims valuations and recoveries for our clients. Our lawyers have achieved winning results for clients in many recent high-profile bankruptcies, including:
- Caesars Entertainment Operating Co.
- Peabody Energy Corp.
- Energy Future Intermediate Holding Co.
- Molycorp Inc.
- Takata
- Gymboree
- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- RCS Capital
- Aeropostale
Collaborating with lawyers in our Corporate, Banking and Finance, Tax, and Real Estate practices, we structure, negotiate and document loan transactions, including:
- Exchange transactions
- Credit agreements
- DIP loans
- Covenant analyses
- Mezzanine loans
- Second lien loans
- Bridge loans
- Acquisition facilities
- Exit financings
- Standstill agreements
Our team analyzes capital structures, including indentures, intercreditor agreements, and other credit and security documents, to provide our clients with practical strategies that enhance leverage and recoveries. We have demonstrated success on the enforcement of creditors’ rights related to senior and subordinated debt priorities; no-action clauses, compelling indenture trustees to take actions; and covenant defaults while minimizing the risk that our clients face.
We partner with our clients to develop creative solutions for creditors through various structures, including debt-for-equity exchanges, loan transactions and other capital investments in distressed companies. We also represent nonfinancial creditors, such as suppliers, contract counterparties and other trade creditors, in negotiating and defending contractual rights with companies — crafting creative solutions, including financing and other operational support, while the company navigates its distressed period. Our breadth of experience across industries and litigation capacity enables our team to protect creditors’ rights across the capital structure with a focus on maximizing value for all stakeholders.
In France, Kramer Levin assists creditors in the context of amicable and contested insolvency proceedings such as mandat ad hoc, conciliation, safeguard, reorganization, liquidation and, when necessary, under the aegis of the Inter Ministerial Committee of Industrial Restructuring in Bercy. We advise on their negotiations with the debtors in order to maximize the recovery of their claims and protect their rights at all stages of the proceeding. Our Paris lawyers also represent creditors in the context of judicial proceedings, whether in front of commercial or civil courts, in a wide range of actions, from filing a claim to responding to liability actions filed by judicial liquidators.
