Media Mentions
2010
Richard Mitchell was interviewed by the BBC’s “Business Day” (February 26) regarding the growing practice of global companies filing for bankruptcy or insolvency in the countries where it is most advantageous to do so (for example, to take advantage of “pre-packaged administration” in the UK). The practice illustrates that insolvency laws have not kept up with the global nature of business. “As finance has globalized it has effectively outrun the legal boundaries with which it grew up,” Mr. Mitchell stated. “We now have global companies with complex global financial arrangements that are confronted by quite different legal requirements in different countries, which makes the process very complicated and difficult to deal with.”
Richard Mitchell, Banking and Finance - London, Finance & Banking, London, Restructuring & Insolvency
Gary Rosenbaum and Jean LeBlanc were included in a February 22 assessment of continuing economic risk made by The Commodity Trading Advisor. The article cites a study that the two lawyers did concerning substantial recent debt for leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and mergers and acquisitions, for which the borrowers "will be facing a decidedly different environment as their 2005-2006 vintage credit facilities mature." Mr. Rosenbaum and Ms. LeBlanc say fewer refinancing options and reduced lender appetite for risk will mean that many LBO borrowers will "find themselves without any realistic refinancing prospects," which they believe will lead to defaults and bankruptcies. The lawyers say that these borrowers "need to confront the reality of today's frozen credit environment" and "meet head on the current challenges by exploring deleveraging devices and other options that will be evolving during the remainder of this restructuring cycle."
Jean B. LeBlanc, Gary B. Rosenbaum, Corporate, Finance & Banking, Restructuring & Insolvency
2009
Gary Rosenbaum was quoted by CFO.com (October 15) regarding a panel he participated on. Mr. Rosenbaum advised, "If you have a loan facility that's coming due in the next year, do the lap of the smaller universe of potential lenders — and get out early." He noted that "the world of lenders has shrunk," attributing developments such as the increase of big bank mergers and the disappearance of Collateralized Loan Obligations. He said that corporate executives should look at their prior arrangements to find out if the covenants on three-year or five-year credit facilities arranged before the financial crisis are still accurate. Mr. Rosenbaum agreed with other panelists that corporations should work harder to sell themselves as acceptable risks to their bankers. "If you as a borrower can't present a package to your lender that has that kind of necessary detail, it's going to be harder for the lender to get his or her superiors to approve it," he said.Gary B. Rosenbaum, Corporate, Finance & Banking, Private Equity
Patrick Nordhues was interviewed in Financial Times Deutschland online (FTD.de) on August 04 concerning the compensation of debtors in the case of creditor’s insolvency.
Patrick Nordhues, Corporate - Germany, Finance & Banking, Germany
Rick Mitchell discussed in an April 2009 International Financial Law Review article the negotiation of exchange offers by companies that need short-term cash and debt restructuring. "An exchange offer cuts through all jurisdictional conflicts because it is not a compulsory proceeding like an insolvency – it's entirely consensual," he explained. "It's super-charged cash, because you're not only reducing your debt, you're changing the terms of that debt." He added that exchange offers are likely to become more common. "We'll start to see people who are clever, and courageous in some cases, buying in at 15 cents on the dollar and selling to the company at 30."
Richard Mitchell, Banking and Finance - London, Corporate, Corporate - London, Finance & Banking, London, Restructuring & Insolvency
2008
Matthew J. Jacobs was quoted in the October 3 issue of USA Today in an article regarding the Wall Street bailout bill. While the bill allows for oversight, Mr. Jacobs noted that it remains to be seen how regulators and lawmakers will use their power. "The real test will be how individuals involved in oversight choose to exercise their authority," he said. Mr. Jacobs noted that because the bill was passed so quickly, "there almost certainly will be potential for fraud and abuse."
Matthew J. Jacobs, Finance & Banking, Trial
2007
John Lutz was quoted in the December 10 issue of The Bond Buyer about how the turbulence blowing global financial markets askew has not slowed the creation of tender-option bond trusts, according to new data compiled from the major credit rating agencies. "You're certainly going to see residual owners react to the availability of liquidity by moving trusts from one program to another," Mr. Lutz said.
John T. Lutz, Finance & Banking, Tax
2006
Rick Mitchell was quoted in a November 13 article published by Financial Times regarding the appeal of private equity firms listing in the U.S. Financial Times reports that if funds are listed in the U.S., they could take advantage of the far bigger investor base and the culture of venture capital investing. Mr. Mitchell commented, "Given that private equity funds are essentially large piles of money with a few people on top, without a large administrative staff in place, it makes send for them to list where the disclosure requirements are less onerous. But once a deal gets big enough, a couple of extra million dollars in compliance costs doesn’t bite that hard."
Richard Mitchell, Corporate, Corporate - London, Finance & Banking, London
2002
McDermott Will & Emery was mentioned in the April 2002 issue of International Financial Law Review, which announced its Project Finance Deal of the Year: the Dutch high speed rail link.
2001
McDermott Will & Emery was mentioned in the November 13 issue of the Law Gazette for having advised the European Investment Bank on the project financing of the HSL-Zuid high speed rail.
Finance & Banking, International, London
McDermott Will & Emery's London office was mentioned as advising the film finance company, IAC Holdings, in its flotation on AIM in the August 6 issue of The Lawyer.
