Borrowers and lenders must both be aware of the risks relating to uncertainty regarding make-whole premiums in bankruptcy. The enforceability of “make-whole” premiums in bankruptcy has become a hotly contested issue in...more
On December 31, 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (the “Court”) struck down the controversial 2020 “uptier transaction” executed by Serta Simmons Bedding (“Serta”). The Serta case and several other state court and...more
In its New Year’s Eve decision in Serta Simmons Bedding, the Fifth Circuit underscored the importance of drafting debt documents with clarity and precision and cautioned against borrowers’ reliance on ambiguous language to...more
Fifth circuit rules that serta simmons uptier violated credit agreement, rejects equitable mootness as bar to review of chapter 11 plan confirmation order and excises plan indemnification provision...more
In In re Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC, 125 F.4th 555 (5th Cir. 2024), as amended, No. 23-20281 (5th Cir. Jan. 21, 2025), revised and superseded, No. 23-20181 (5th Cir. Feb. 14, 2025), reh'g denied, No. 23-20181 (5th Cir. Feb....more
On December 31, 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas’ (the “Bankruptcy Court”) decision that the exchange by certain lenders of Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC...more
In a landmark ruling, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that a June 2020 refinancing transaction (the Uptier Transaction) entered by Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC (SSB, or the Debtor) and certain of its lenders...more
On December 31, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its long-awaited decision regarding the permissibility of the Serta Simmons Bedding (Serta) uptier liability management exercise (the 2020 Uptier)...more
The caselaw on “uptiers” as liability management exercises (LMEs) grew by two opinions on the last day of 2024. In Serta, the Fifth Circuit reversed the bankruptcy court’s blessing of the pre-bankruptcy uptier and...more
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has unanimously held that the debt exchange undertaken by Serta Simmons Bedding did not qualify as an "open market purchase" under the terms of Serta's...more
Market participants might be wary of opinions that begin with a recitation of academic literature and then turn to dictionaries. The former tend to be authored with an eye toward systemic change rather than direct experience...more
On December 31, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the Court or the Fifth Circuit) held that the controversial $200 million Serta Simmons Bedding (SSB) uptier financing...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the “Fifth Circuit”) ruled on December 31, 2024 that Serta Simmons Bedding’s (“SSB”) 2020 uptier exchange included a transaction that, contrary to the assertions of...more
Summary - The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld on August 24, 2023, a decision from the District Court to dismiss a securities fraud case brought by a Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee, on the...more
The ruling, which held that the transaction did not violate the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, highlights the importance of carefully drafting lending documents. On June 6, 2023, Judge David Jones of the...more
Earlier today, Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Judge David R. Jones (the “Court”) issued an oral ruling on motions for summary judgment regarding the propriety of Serta’s 2020 “uptier” liability management transaction...more
"Cramdown" chapter 11 plans, under which a bankruptcy court confirms a plan over the objection of a class of creditors, are relatively common. Less common are the subset of cramdown plans known as "cram-up" chapter 11 plans....more
On June 14, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion affirming bankruptcy and district court decisions finding that, under the terms of the confirmed Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, the debtor’s...more
In the August 2017 issue of Debt Dialogue, we discussed the recent decision by Judge Martin Glenn of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York with respect to claims brought by the litigation trust (the...more
With the significant increase in cross-border bankruptcy and insolvency filings in the 43 nations or territories that have adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (the "Model Law"), including the U.S., the...more
The bankruptcy court in In re Ocean Rig UDW Inc., 17-10736 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Aug. 24, 2017) determined that a decision by an offshore drilling company from the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) to shift its Center of...more
On May 11, 2016, the Delaware bankruptcy court issued an opinion in the RadioShack bankruptcy case addressing an intercreditor dispute between Salus Capital Partners, LLC, the “last out” lender in RadioShack’s prepetition...more
On Oct. 7, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated a plan injunction that had been approved by the Bankruptcy Court in the Chapter 11 cases of LightSquared and certain of its affiliates...more
As predicted a year ago, the adoption of US-style covenant-lite terms in European leveraged deals continues apace. This is hardly surprising given that the existence of ultra-low interest rates are sparking intense...more