Josephine Fina

Representation of Vertex Energy, Inc. (VTNR) and 23 of its subsidiaries (“Vertex”) in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Vertex is a leading energy transition company and marketer of high-quality refined products. Vertex filed for Chapter 11 with a restructuring support agreement (“RSA”) that is supported by 100% of the company’s term loan lenders. The RSA and related Chapter 11 plan provide for a recapitalization of the business through a debt-for-equity exchange or a sale of all or substantially all of the debtors’ assets. Vertex commenced its Chapter 11 cases with a $280 million debtor-in-possession financing facility and a commitment from the Company’s intermediation counterparty to continue performing under Vertex’s critical intermediation facility.

Representation of West Marine, Inc. and its affiliates, the nation’s leading omnichannel provider in the marine aftermarket, in multiple transactions, including a comprehensive out-of-court restructuring of its existing capital structure supported by 100 percent of the Company’s existing lenders and its equity sponsor. The comprehensive transaction delevered the Company’s funded indebtedness by more than $500 million, provided the Company access to $125 million of new money term loan financing, and left trade claims unimpaired.

Representation of Avaya Holdings Corp. and its affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Avaya Holdings Corp., (“Avaya”) is a global leader in solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration. With overwhelming consensus from Avaya’s secured lenders and the support of its other key stakeholders, Avaya confirmed its prepackaged plan of reorganization just over a month after it commenced its Chapter 11 cases. The confirmed prepackaged plan reduced Avaya’s total debt by more than 75%, from approximately $3.4 billion to approximately $810 million, substantially increased Avaya’s liquidity position to approximately $650 million, decreased its net leverage to less than 1x, and provided substantial financial flexibility to accelerate Avaya’s investment in its innovative cloud-based communications portfolio. Avaya emerged from Chapter 11 protection as a privately held company approximately five weeks after the bankruptcy court confirmed Avaya’s prepackaged plan.

Representation of Cineworld Group plc and 104 of its debtor affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange, Cineworld, the parent company of Regal Entertainment Group, is the second-largest cinema chain in the world, operating over 9,100 screens at nearly 750 cinemas in 10 countries worldwide. Cineworld commenced its Chapter 11 cases with approximately $5.1 billion in funded debt and commitments from an ad hoc group of prepetition lenders to provide nearly $2 billion in debtor-in-possession financing.

Representation of Nordic Aviation Capital Designated Activity Company and its subsidiaries in connection with their prearranged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. NAC, an Irish company, is the largest regional aircraft lessor in the world with more than 475 aircraft. With over $7.7 billion of liabilities, NAC was the largest Chapter 11 filing in 2021. 

Representation of Premiere Global Services, Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiaries in connection with an out-of-court restructuring by which PGi’s first lien lenders consensually foreclosed upon and sold the equity of Premiere Global Services, Inc. to a third-party buyer. The transaction resulted in mutual releases between the Company’s’ first lien lenders and the Company and related parties and an incremental financing commitment from the Company’s first lien lenders. 

Representation of Just Energy Group Inc., a Mississauga, Ontario-based leading retail consumer company specializing in electricity and natural gas commodities, energy efficiency solutions, and renewable energy options, in its Chapter 15 proceedings in the United States to recognize proceedings commenced in Canada under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). Prior to filing for bankruptcy, Just Energy Group Inc. was severely adversely impacted by the unprecedented winter storm in Texas in February 2021. The insolvency proceedings successfully culminated in a Canadian-court approved and United States-court recognized sale transaction that preserved operations, hundreds of jobs, critical regulatory approvals, and key commodity supplier relationships. 

Representation of Gulfport Energy Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries in their prearranged Chapter 11 restructuring in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Gulfport is an independent returns-oriented, gas-weighted exploration and development company and one of the largest producers of natural gas in the contiguous United States, with significant acreage positions in Ohio and Oklahoma. The restructuring eliminated more than $1.2 billion of funded debt obligations, secured $50 million of new capital through a backstopped rights offering and $580 million in new exit financing, and right-sized Gulfport’s go-forward midstream contract obligations, positioning Gulfport as a viable and strengthened enterprise post-emergence.

Representation of Chesapeake Energy Corporation and 40 of its subsidiaries in their Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Chesapeake is a premier oil and natural gas exploration and production company with a high-quality, unconventional oil and natural gas asset portfolio, with substantial positions in top U.S. onshore plays. Chesapeake and its debtor-affiliates had more than $9 billion of funded debt obligations as of the commencement of their Chapter 11 cases. Prior to commencing the Chapter 11 cases, Chesapeake obtained commitments from certain of its secured creditors for over $4 billion of new capital, including a $925 million new money debtor-in-possession financing facility, a $600 million fully backstopped rights offering, and $2.5 billion of exit facilities as part of a comprehensive restructuring support agreement that would eliminate approximately $7 billion of Chesapeake’s funded debt obligations.

Representation of  APC Automotive Technologies Intermediate Holdings, LLC and its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. APC is a leading supplier of undercar replacement parts in the automotive aftermarket and the only true full-line underbody supplier for brake, chassis, and exhaust replacement parts. Following entry into a restructuring support agreement with its key stakeholders, APC commenced its Chapter 11 cases with a prepackaged plan of reorganization that will reduce its more than $430 million in indebtedness by $290 million by exchanging its term loan debt for equity.

Representation of Tapstone Energy, LLC and certain of its affiliates in their out-of-court restructuring. Tapstone is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development and production of oil, natural gas, and NGLs in the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. The restructuring transaction reduced Tapstone’s funded debt by approximately $440 million and provided the company with liquidity, including a $50 million new money investment, to optimize operations and expand its production base through mergers and acquisitions.