Katherine V. Coverdale
Overview
Katherine (Kate) Coverdale is a partner in the Firm’s Executive Compensation Group.
Experience
Representative Matters
An ad hoc group of unsecured noteholders (the “Unsecured Ad Hoc Group”) in the Chapter 11 cases of Bristow Group Inc. and its affiliated debtors (collectively, “Bristow”) in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Bristow is a publicly-traded helicopter services company with funded debt obligations exceeding $1.7 billion. Following the filing of Bristow’s cases, Kirkland assisted the Unsecured Ad Hoc Group in negotiating an amended restructuring support agreement with Bristow and its secured creditors that contemplates a restructuring led by the Unsecured Ad Hoc Group that includes a $400 million rights offering to be consummated through a Chapter 11 plan.
One Call Corporation, a leader in ancillary services for the workers’ compensation industry, in a successful out-of-court recapitalization that reduced One Call’s debt through a consensual equitization of nearly $1 billion of junior debt, reduced its annual interest expense by approximately $90 million, and eliminated all near-term maturities. The restructuring was facilitated by a $375 million investment led by existing lenders KKR and GSO Capital Partners.
Windjammer Capital and Summit Partners in the $2 billion combination of Parts Town and Heritage Foodservice Group.
Nordic Capital and other stakeholders in the partial sale and co-investment in eResearchTechnology, Inc.
Windjammer Capital and Summit Partners in the combination of Parts Town and Heritage Foodservice Group.
L Catterton in its acquisition of Cholula.
L Catterton in its $100 million investment in Boll & Branch.
The Simply Good Foods Company in its pending $1 billion acquisition of Quest Nutrition, LLC.
Huntsman Corporation in its pending $2.1 billion sale of its chemical intermediates and surfactants businesses to Indorama Ventures.
Company management team of LandCare in its acquisition of LandCare from Aurora Resurgence.
Del Frisco's Restaurant Group in its $650 million sale to L Catterton.
AbbVie in its pending $63 billion acquisition of Allergan.
GLP in the $18.7 billion sale of its U.S. logistics business to Blackstone, the largest-ever private real estate transaction globally.
Capital Vision Services, LP in its pending sale to West Street Capital Partners VII, a fund managed by the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs.
iHeartMedia, Inc. and certain subsidiaries, one of the world’s leading global multi-platform media, entertainment, and data companies, in their Chapter 11 restructuring. iHeart is the largest radio broadcaster in the United States and specializes in radio, digital, outdoor, mobile, social, live events, on-demand entertainment and information services for local and national communities. The Company has consolidated debts of over $20 billion and the Chapter 11 cases, which are the largest of 2018 based on outstanding debt, seek to restructure over $16 billion of that debt. In connection with its restructuring, iHeart has reached an agreement with holders of more than $11 billion of its debt and its financial sponsors, reflecting widespread support across the capital structure, regarding a comprehensive balance sheet restructuring that will reduce iHeartMedia’s debt by more than $10 billion.
WellCare Health Plans in its $17.3 billion acquisition by Centene Corporation
Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. and certain subsidiaries (“Aegean”), a leading international marine fuel logistics company with approximately $900 million of funded indebtedness, in their Chapter 11 cases filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Aegean operates in more than 20 countries worldwide with headquarters in Athens, Greece and a corporate office in New York, New York. In connection with its restructuring, Aegean has reached agreements with certain key stakeholders to deleverage its balance sheet by more than $700 million and continue as a going concern
Bristol-Myers Squibb on the offer from Taisho Pharmaceutical to purchase the UPSA consumer health business for $1.6 billion
GlobalLogic and Apax Funds in the sale of Apax Funds’ ownership stake in GlobalLogic to Partners Group
Wyndham Worldwide in its $1.95 billion acquisition of La Quinta Inns & Suites’ franchise and management businesses
Bain Capital Private Equity in its acquisition of Varsity Brands
GTCR in its £1.0 billion sale of Callcredit Information Group Limited to TransUnion
American Securities in its acquisition of Prince International
L Catterton and Ainsworth Pet Nutrition in the $1.9 billion sale of Ainsworth Pet Nutrition to The J.M. Smucker Company
Wyndham Worldwide in its approximately $1.3 billion sale of its European vacation rental business to Platinum Equity
OmniClaim, a healthcare cost containment and payment integrity solutions provider, in its sale to Equian, a portfolio company of New Mountain Capital
Avaya Inc., and certain of its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases. Avaya is a leading multinational technology company that specializes in telephony, wireless data communications, customer relationship management software, and networking. Avaya and its debtor-affiliates had more than $6 billion in funded debt obligations as of the commencement of their Chapter 11 cases, with annual revenues in excess of $3 billion
GTCR LLC in its $975 million acquisition, with The Carlyle Group, of Albany Molecular Research, Inc.
TPG Capital in its acquisition of Transplace
Wyndham Worldwide in its separation via spin-off into two separate publicly traded hospitality companies valued at approximately $11 billion, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. and Wyndham Destinations, Inc.
Avista Corporation in its pending $5.3 billion sale to Hydro One Limited
Conyers Park Acquisition Corp. in its acquisition of Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. to form Simply Good Foods Company
Sycamore Partners in its $6.9 billion acquisition of Staples, Inc.
Pamplona Capital Management in its $5 billion acquisition of PAREXEL International
Celanese Corporation in its joint venture with Blackstone to create a global acetate tow supplier
GTCR in its pending acquisition of GreatCall Inc.
Hamilton Insurance Group in the sale of Hamilton USA and expansion of its strategic partnership with AIG and Two Sigma Insurance Quantified
TPG Capital in its investment in LLamasoft
Centerbridge Partners L.P. in its acquisition of Industrial Container Services, Inc. from Aurora Capital Group
DiversiTech and The Jordan Company in the sale of DiversiTech to Permira
Bain Capital Private Equity in its sale of Apple Leisure Group
Bain Capital Private Equity in its $3.2 billion carve-out acquisition of Diversey Care from Sealed Air
The Carlyle Group in its acquisition of Arctic Glacier Group Holdings, Inc. from H.I.G. Capital
Cision, Inc. in its $2.4 billion merger with Capitol Acquisition Corp. III
WGL Holdings in its $6.4 billion sale to AltaGas, Ltd.
L Catterton in its acquisition of Leslie’s Holdings, Inc.
Bain Capital Private Equity in its acquisition of Epic Health Services
Blackstone in its acquisition of SESAC Holdings, a leading music rights organization, from Rizvi Traverse Management
Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. in its acquisition of LANDESK Software from Thoma Bravo
Bain Capital and Bow Street in their $500 million acquisition of leading online jeweler Blue Nile
Ad hoc committee of bondholders, composed of Clearlake Capital Group and Avenue Capital Group, in connection with the prepackaged chapter 11 plan of reorganization of Light Tower Rentals, Inc. (LTR), with respect to executive compensation matters
Energy Future Holdings Corp. and 71 of its affiliates (collectively, “EFH”) in their Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, with respect to executive compensation matters
Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. in its $85 million PIPE investment in SunOpta Inc.
LINN Energy, LLC, a leading independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company with operations in 12 states and eight discrete U.S. regions., and its affiliates in its Chapter 11 cases filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, with respect to executive compensation matters
SandRidge Energy, Inc., an oil and natural gas company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in its prearranged Chapter 11 cases, with respect to executive compensation matters
Micro Focus International plc in its $8.8 billion “Reverse Morris Trust” acquisition of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company’s software business
The Blackstone Group in its $1 billion capital commitment to Jetta Permian, LP, a Delaware basin-focused oil and gas exploration and production company
Advent International in its acquisition of Fort Dearborn Company
Apax Partners in its acquisition of Dominion Marine Media
KKR in its strategic investment in UFC
Vector Capital in its pending acquisition of Sizmek Inc.
Versa Capital Management in its recently completed out-of-court acquisition of oilfield services provider U.S. Shale Solutions, Inc.
MWH Global Inc. in sale to Stantec for $793 million
WOW! and Avista Capital Partners in Sale of Stake in WOW! to Crestview Partners
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in its $500 million acquisition of the Anda distribution business
GTCR and Cision in the $841 million acquisition of PR Newswire from UBM plc
Penn Virginia Corporation in its Chapter 11 case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
MultiPlan, Inc. and Starr Investment Holdings, LLC in the sale of MultiPlan to Hellman & Friedman
Baxalta in connection with Shire plc’s unsolicited takeover bid resulting in a pending $32 billion stock-and-cash sale
Nordic Capital, a large cap Swedish private equity sponsor, and its co-investors in connection with its acquisition of eResearch Technology (ERT) for $1.8 billion in cash
Thoma Bravo LLC in its acquisition of network monitoring software maker SolarWinds, Inc. for approximately $4.6 billion in cash
The Blackstone Group in its $820 million investment in NCR Corporation
Prior Experience
Summer Associate, Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton
Summer Associate, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker
Paralegal, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bersen & Loewy
More
Thought Leadership
Seminars
Speaker, CLE — "What Emerging Companies Need to Know About Tax Reform," Boston Bar Association, Boston, MA, March 27, 2018
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- Massachusetts
- New York
- Pennsylvania
Languages
- Russian
Education
- New York University School of LawJ.D.2010
Visiting Student at University of Pennsylvania School of Law, 2009–2010
Senior Problem Writer, Casebook Editor — Moot Court
- New York University School of LawLL.M., Taxation2015
- Stanford UniversityB.A., Englishwith Distinction2006
Other Distinctions
Amsterdam Teaching Assistant, Lawyering Program (Legal Research and Writing)
Research Assistant for Vice Dean Barry Friedman