Rob Jacobson

Prima® Wawona — Representation of Prima® Wawona and certain of its affiliates (“Prima®”) in their Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. As the largest producer of stone fruit in the United States, Prima® farms is approximately 18,000 acres of peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots and various other stone fruits across the San Joaquin Valley in California. Headquartered in Fresno, California, Prima® entered Chapter 11 with approximately $679 million in funded debt and approximately $1 billion in total debt as of the petition date. Prima® will use its time in Chapter 11 to pursue one or more value-maximizing sale transactions.

Yellow Corporation — Representation of Yellow Corporation and certain of its subsidiaries (“Yellow”) in their Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. With its family of brands, including YRC, Reddaway, Holland, and Yellow Logistics, Yellow was a storied trucking and logistics company with a 100-year history and one of the largest less-than-truckload networks in North America. Yellow entered Chapter 11 with approximately $1.2 billion in prepetition funded debt. Yellow secured a $1.525 billion stalking horse bidder for its owned real estate assets and, through its Chapter 11 cases, will conduct a marketing and sale process for some or all of its real estate and rolling stock assets, followed by an orderly liquidation of any remaining assets.

BlockFi — Representation of BlockFi Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries (“BlockFi”) in their Chapter 11 cases in the District of New Jersey. BlockFi is an industry-leading provider of cryptocurrency related products and services, allowing its retail and institutional clients access to liquidity, yield, and credit. Following disruption in the cryptocurrency industry, BlockFi commenced Chapter 11 to stabilize its business and provide for the opportunity to consummate a comprehensive restructuring transaction that maximizes value for its clients and stakeholders.

Altera Infrastructure L.P. — Representation of Altera Infrastructure L.P. and certain of its affiliates (“Altera”), a leading international midstream services provider to the oil and gas industry, in pre-arranged Chapter 11 cases filed in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Operating a fleet of 41 vessels, Altera supplies critical infrastructure assets to its customers primarily in offshore regions of the North Sea, Brazil, and the East Coast of Canada. Altera filed for Chapter 11 with a restructuring support agreement (“RSA”) that is widely supported by Altera’s equity sponsor, Brookfield, and a super-majority of its bank lenders. The RSA contemplates, among other things, addressing more than $1 billion of secured and unsecured holding company debt, $400 million of preferred equity, and $550 million of secured asset-level bank debt, and a comprehensive reprofiling of Altera’s bank loan facilities to better align cash flow with debt service obligations.

STX Filmworks, Inc. — Representation of STX Filmworks, Inc. and its subsidiaries (“STX”), a film, television, and digital media production company, and STX’s corporate parent, Eros STX Global Corporation, in the stock sale of STX to an affiliate of The Najafi Companies for $158 million. In furtherance of the sale, Kirkland also represented two STX subsidiaries in connection with their surgical Chapter 11 filings to protect two of the company’s valuable assets from termination and avoid a “whole-company” Chapter 11 filing. Following the sale transaction, the two STX subsidiaries secured the orderly dismissal of their Chapter 11 cases with the consensual support of all economic stakeholders.  

Talen Energy Supply, LLC — Representation of an ad hoc group of unsecured noteholders (the “Ad Hoc Group”) in the Chapter 11 cases of Talen Energy Supply, LLC and its affiliated debtors (“Talen”) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Talen is one of the largest competitive power generation companies in North America, with a generation portfolio consisting of 18 facilities that are collectively capable of producing approximately 13,000 megawatts of power. Talen filed for Chapter 11 relief on May 9, 2022 to restructure its approximately $4.5 billion of funded debt obligations. On May 17, 2023, Talen successfully consummated its Chapter 11 plan of reorganization and emerged from Chapter 11, following a $1.4 billion new-money recapitalization led by the Ad Hoc Group, whereby Talen’s balance sheet was deleveraged by approximately $2.7 billion and the Ad Hoc Group emerged as the new majority equity owners of reorganized Talen. 

Nordic Aviation Capital — 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. 

Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc. — Representation of Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries (“BTC”) in their Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Prior to the bankruptcy filing, BTC was one of the nation’s largest independently owned ocean-going petroleum barge companies operating within the Jones Act market, possessing a fleet of 24 barges and 25 tugs that provided oil and petroleum product transportation services. During their Chapter 11 cases, BTC obtained over $100 million of new capital through a series of court-approved transactions and consummated two simultaneous value-maximizing sale transactions for substantially all of their assets that allowed their state of the art fleet to continue operating in the Jones Act market.

Europcar Mobility Group S.A. — Representation of Europcar Mobility Group S.A. (“Europcar”), a Paris based global leader in the mobility services industry in its Chapter 15 case before the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The Chapter 15 case was part of a comprehensive restructuring strategy to raise €480 million in new financing, equitize €1,100 million in corporate indebtedness, and refinance Europcar’s €670 revolving credit facility through an accelerated financial safeguard proceeding under French law. Europcar and its subsidiaries together operate through four major brands — Europcar, Goldcar, InterRent, and Ubeeqo — to provide mobility service solutions to over 9.5 million customers in over 140 nations, including France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and the United States. 

Skyline Displays Buyer, Inc. — Representation of leading event planning business that offers portable and custom modular exhibits and related services for face-to-face trade shows and events, in their out-of-court restructuring transactions, in response to the global pandemic. The successful restructuring extended the maturity of Skyline’s senior funded debt, raised new capital, cancelled junior debt, and provided significant covenant relief to allow the company to bridge to a recovery.

Bluestem Brands — Representation of Bluestem Brands, Inc. and certain of its affiliates (“Bluestem”), a direct-to-consumer retailer that provides a wide array of merchandise through multiple channels under the Orchard and Northstar brand portfolios, in their Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Bluestem filed with over $460 million in funded indebtedness and a stalking horse purchase agreement that contemplates a going-concern transaction.

Murray Energy Holdings Co. — Representation of Murray Energy Holdings Co. and certain of its subsidiaries in their Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Murray is the largest privately-owned coal company in the United States, headquartered in St. Clairsville, Ohio, and has operations primarily in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, Illinois, Utah, and Colombia, South America. Murray employs nearly 5,500 people, including approximately 2,400 active union members. Murray entered Chapter 11 with approximately $2.7 billion in prepetition funded debt and more than $8 billion in actual or potential pension and employee benefit obligations.