Section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code provides that the reversal or modification of an order approving a sale or lease of assets in bankruptcy does not affect the validity of the sale or lease to a good-faith purchaser or...more
In August 1992, the largest indoor shopping mall in the continental United States opened to great fanfare in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dubbed the Mall of America (MOA), this sprawling retail center enjoyed 330 stores,...more
Section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code is one of the most important and well-known statutes to bankruptcy practitioners. This section of the Bankruptcy Code protects a good faith asset purchaser who purchases assets from a...more
In Short - The Situation: The U.S. Supreme Court considered whether § 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code, which limits a party's ability to undo an asset transfer made to a good-faith purchaser in a bankruptcy case, is...more
In a ruling issued just yesterday, MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC et al., 598 U.S. ----, 2023 WL 2992693 (2023) (“MOAC”), the United States Supreme Court (the “Supreme Court”) held that Bankruptcy Code section...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC. The case involves the authority of a court of appeals to review a bankruptcy order authorizing a bankrupt tenant to sell its...more
In an opinion dated Feb. 27, 2020, Judge Colleen McMahon of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York reversed the decision of the bankruptcy court that had granted Sears the right to assign its...more
A recent decision from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the District Court) in the bankruptcy cases of Sears Holdings Corp. may loom large in a day and age when shopping mall operators...more
Successful Chapter 11s for retailers have become few and far between. Sears, Toys "R" Us, Barneys New York, Forever 21, Coldwater Creek, Fred's, Fairway and A&P are just a few examples of recent retail disasters... ...more
Restructurings and uncertainty are hitting the US consumer sector. Retail M&A deal volume dropped 11 percent year-on-year to 459 deals, while deal value dropped 36 percent to US$76.87 billion. Consumer M&A activity...more
BlackRock Inc. will sell out of all companies “that get more than 25% of sales from thermal coal.” This threshold, however, won’t affect larger, diversified miners—which includes some of the biggest coal shippers....more
On October 7, 2019, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed Sears Holdings Corp.’s chapter 11 plan of liquidation. Sears currently owes tens of millions of dollars to its...more
We Work’s largest investor, SoftBank, is reportedly sketching out plans in which it would drop billions of additional money on the company in return for giving Masa Son control of WeWork “and further sidelin[ing] its founder...more
The last several years have been treacherous for the retail sector. Changing shopping patterns and shifting demographics have led some commentators to declare that the (retail) apocalypse is upon us. ...more
In October of this year, Sears Holdings Corp and affiliated Debtors filed a Chapter 11 case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in a case pending before Judge Drain. Since that time, the company...more
Fascinating weekend feature from the Journal exploring how Sears Roebuck went from the dominant force in American retailing to the bankrupt shell of a company that it is now—all within a period of just 40 years....more
Digital disruption and its impact on physical retailers once again weighed on the consumer sector in 2018. Consumer M&A volume was down 13 percent year-on-year to 465 deals in 2018. Value decreased 28 percent to US$119...more
CBS isn’t the only large company with insider trading worries. In complaints made public yesterday, the SEC has accused Gene Levoff, Apple’s former senior director of corporate law and corporate secretary, of “repeatedly”...more
All of that SuperBowling seems to have put activist investor Starboard in the mood for some pizza—specifically, former NFL-partner Papa John’s, which has struggled in the wake of the removal of its founder and namesake John...more
The Situation: Fears of a potential short-squeeze in the upcoming Sears CDS auction have kicked off disputes in a variety of venues. The Result: One of these disputes caused the fourth-ever convening of an ISDA CDS...more
As expected, Theresa May’s Brexit deal was roundly defeated in Parliament yesterday by an overwhelming 230-vote margin, the biggest House of Commons loss for a PM “in recent British history.” Following the vote, Labour Party...more
Ford announced yesterday that it plans to cut “thousands of jobs across Europe” as the automaker tries to cut costs while dealing with more stringent emissions rules and decreasing demand. The company didn’t say officially...more
The financial world has been busy—and generally not in a great way—since we’ve been gone. Luckily, we’re returning on something of a rare high note after a stronger-than-expected December jobs report and some reassurance...more
The Sears bankruptcy case made headlines this month in the complex world of credit default swaps (CDS). A credit default swap is a contract pursuant to which the seller receives payment from a buyer in exchange for which the...more
GM’s Monday announcement about cutting 14,000 North American jobs drew the ire of the White House yesterday, which threatened to “end federal tax credits” that have helped subsidize the company’s electric-vehicle fleet....more