News & Analysis as of

Bankruptcy Court Lenders

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

I’m Still Standing – Yeah, Yeah, Yeah: Wilmington Savings Fund Society v. Tamisi

In Wilmington Savings Fund Society v. Tamisi, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York upheld a bankruptcy court’s ruling that Wilmington lacked the necessary standing to enforce a mortgage lien, thereby...more

Goulston & Storrs PC

Rethinking Liability Management in Club Deals and Direct Lending: Lessons from the Fifth Circuit’s Serta Ruling and Beyond

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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

Offit Kurman

Acquisition Strategies: Navigating Section 363 Sales and the Impact of Undersecured Liens

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Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code allows a Chapter 11 debtor to sell assets "free and clear" of existing claims, liens, encumbrances, and other liabilities. This provision facilitates expedited sales that might otherwise be...more

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

HSF Kramer Bankruptcy & Restructuring Group Global reach, local knowledge

Debtors and creditors have options when choosing where to pursue a restructuring – particularly with operations across jurisdictions and debt instruments issued under different laws. Local knowledge is key to navigate those...more

Mayer Brown

Serta and Mitel: The Latest Major Court Decisions on Uptier Transactions

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Summary: On December 31, 2024, two major appellate court decisions addressed the legality of uptier financing transactions—one involving Serta Simmons Bedding (“Serta”) and the other Mitel Networks Corporation (“Mitel”). Both...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Navigating Jurisdictional Pitfalls: Lessons From Global One Media, Inc. v. Newtek Small Business Finance, LLC on Lien Filing...

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The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate panel recently reaffirmed the longstanding principle that a UCC-1 financing statement securing personal property must be filed at the debtor’s location. In a recent case, the lender did...more

Poyner Spruill LLP

A Lender’s Introduction to Fraudulent Conveyances: What They Are and How to Prevent

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Lenders extend loans with the belief that if a borrower fails to make debt service payments, the lender can sell the underlying collateral and recoup the outstanding balance of the loan.  However, bankruptcy courts have the...more

WilmerHale

Serta’s (Un)Surprising Take on Equitable Mootness

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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

Seward & Kissel LLP

Watching the Watchers, Celebrity Status, and Harvester of Sorrow

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Weight Watchers files bankruptcy after growth in GLP-1 drugs | Bloomberg via Yahoo! Finance - Having rebranded as WW International in 2018 and acquired Sequence, a telehealth company, in 2023, the 62-year-old health and...more

Stark & Stark

Rite-Aid Files a Chapter 22: Second Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing in Two Years

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Rite Aid Corporation filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition for the second time in two (2) years in the District of New Jersey Bankruptcy Court, docket #25-14731 (MBK) on May 5, 2025. A repeat filing like this is often...more

Clark Hill PLC

How Bankruptcy Courts Interpret Intercreditor Agreements: The Uncertainty of Judicial Perspective

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Intercreditor Agreements typically are contractual arrangements among lenders of similar or differing priorities to a single borrower secured by the assets of the borrower, often including real estate assets. These multiple...more

Mayer Brown

Bankruptcy Court Denies Stay Relief Thereby Preventing Enforcement of Deed in Escrow Transaction

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In a recent opinion and order, the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Illinois denied a secured lender’s motion for relief from the automatic stay in order for the lender to record a deed being held in escrow...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

The Impact of In re 301 W N. Ave., LLC on the Enforcement of Bankruptcy-Remote Protections

Executive Summary - The recent decision In re 301 W N. Ave., LLC, 666 B.R. 583 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2025) represents a significant development at the intersection of corporate governance, commercial real estate, and...more

Jones Day

Fifth Circuit Rules that Serta Simmons Uptier Violated Credit Agreement, Rejects Equitable Mootness as Bar to Review of Chapter 11...

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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

Jones Day

Uptiers in 2025: Impact of the Serta and Mitel Decisions on Liability Management Exercises

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Late last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York issued important rulings regarding the validity of uptier “liability management...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Private Credit Restructuring: Priming DIPs in Focus

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In most chapter 11 cases, existing first lien lenders provide post-petition financing to preserve collateral value and maximize recovery. In some situations, a stressed borrower may threaten to pursue a hostile chapter 11...more

Holland & Knight LLP

American Tire: Rubber Hits the Road in Non-Ratable Chapter 11 Liability Management Transaction

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Minority senior secured lenders in syndicated deals rely on, among other provisions, the "sacred right" protections contained in the credit documents to protect the benefit of their bargained-for agreement: primarily, that...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Enforceability of Golden Directors with Bankruptcy Consent Right

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The appointment of an independent director is a powerful tool for private credit lenders. The appointment is designed to introduce a voice of neutrality and fairness into the board’s decision-making process with the hope and...more

A&O Shearman

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so*

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The court reassures lenders on the effect of a termination notice, the meaning of a continuing Event of Default and the effectiveness of reservation of rights letters: Re Pocket Renting. Appointment of administrator...more

Mintz

Watch Your Language! Non-Pro Rata Uptier Transactions and the Serta and Mitel Decisions

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Among the many financial innovations that came out of the COVID era, non-pro rata uptier transactions as a liability management exercise (“LMEs”) are among the more controversial. While lawsuits challenging non-pro rata...more

Kilpatrick

When Provisions in a Loan and LLC Agreements Do Not Impermissibly Restrict a Bankruptcy Filing

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In In re 301 W North Avenue, LLC, 2025 WL 37897 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2025), a bankruptcy court recently addressed provisions in a loan agreement and limited liability company (“LLC”) operating agreement as to their effect on...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

The Impact of the Serta and Mitel Decisions: What Comes Next

The Fifth Circuit struck down Serta Simmons’ 2020 uptier transaction, while the New York Appellate Division upheld a similar transaction in a case involving Mitel Networks, exposing key differences in how courts interpret...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

The Evolving New Normal 2024 Private Credit Restructuring Year in Review

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In many ways, 2024 continued existing trends in private credit: modest levels of M&A activity, competition among direct lenders to deploy capital, higher-for-longer interest rates, persistent inflation, elevated default...more

Seward & Kissel LLP

Fifth Circuit Reverses Bankruptcy Court’s Ruling on Lenders’ Sacred Right of Pro Rata Repayment in Uptiering Transaction

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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

DLA Piper

Fifth Circuit Rules that Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC’s 2020 Uptier Transaction Violated Pro Rata Distribution Covenant

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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

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