Equitable Subordination Risk Follows Claims
by Jon Kibbe, Paul Haskel and Patricia O’Prey
Richards Spears Kibbe & Orbe LLP; New York
Buyers of claims in bankruptcy have long feared that their claims (including syndicated bank loan claims) may be tarnished by the conduct of a previous owner. Standard legal documentation used to purchase claims strives to protect buyers from "bad actors" in the upstream chain of title.
Fairness Opinions – Revisited for the Bankruptcy Professional
by Craig Jacobson
Willamette Management Associates; New York
Fairness opinions, the opinion of a financial advisor that the price of a prospective transaction is fair from a financial point of view, have been in the news recently for several reasons. The controversy involves conflicts of interest between providers of fairness opinions and other parties involved in the transactions. There has also been discussion as to whether even “unbiased” fairness opinions provide meaningful information. Since a fairness opinion is typically performed on behalf of either the buyer or seller, it reflects solely the fairness to that party and does not opine as to whether the deal is fair to the other party. A fairness opinion relates only to the price of the proposed transaction and not to any other deal terms, including the legal aspects.
Agenda for the 2006 Annual Spring Meeting
The Asset Sales Committee and the Finance and Banking Committee will present a nontraditional program on a nontraditional topic: “Nontraditional Lenders and Loans to Acquisitions in Today’s Changing World of Finance.”
The two committees have come together to provide an inside look at alternative financing vehicles, lending structures and using lenders for workouts, recapitalization, reorganization, etc. In the spirit of both education and openness to other profile groups, the committees plan to have one or two partners from leading hedge funds and nontraditional equity- and debt-providers on the panel. These outside speakers will join with one committee member to tackle these complex topics via case studies and personal commentary.