Margaret Reiney

Learfield Communications, LLC —⁠ Representation of Learfield Communications, LLC and its affiliates, a leading media and technology company in the college sports market, in a nearly $1 billion out-of-court restructuring with unanimous support from Learfield’s existing lenders and equity sponsors. The transactions substantially delevered Learfield’s balance sheet and provided access to significant new money equity investments, strengthening Learfield’s financial and liquidity positions.

Envision Healthcare Corp. — Representation of Envision Healthcare Corp. and 216 of its affiliates in the commencement of pre-arranged Chapter 11 cases. Envision is a leading national medical group that employs or partners with more than 21,000 clinicians and provides care to patients across the U.S., with nearly 30 million patient visits each year. The debtors confirmed two Chapter 11 plans of reorganization (on account of its two credit silos) that resulted in a deleveraging of more than $7 billion, more than $2 billion in exit financing, and laid the groundwork for the operational separation of the debtors’ physician services and ambulatory surgery center business lines, all on a substantially consensual basis. 

West Marine, Inc. — Representation of West Marine, Inc. and its affiliates, a leading boating supply and fishing retailer, in a liability management transaction that effectuated a complete recapitalization of the business with near-unanimous support from West Marine’s existing lenders and its equity sponsor. The transaction injected an aggregate $150 million of new money into West Marine’s balance sheet and significantly reduced the Company’s cash payment interest burden.

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.

Seadrill New Finance Limited — Representation of Seadrill New Finance Limited and 11 of its affiliates (together, the “NSNCo Group”), the fourth group of Seadrill Limited entities to undergo a restructuring, in their one-day prepackaged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The NSNCo Group utilized Chapter 11 to implement an amend-and-extend of approximately $622 million in senior secured notes and transfer majority ownership of NSNCo from the wider Seadrill Limited group to Seadrill’s secured noteholders. The NSNCo Group’s reorganization plan was confirmed within one day of the filing of the Chapter 11 cases.

IPC Systems, Inc. — Representation of IPC Systems, Inc, a leading global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the global financial markets, in a comprehensive out-of-court restructuring. The transaction reduced IPC’s leverage by over $400 million, extended its debt maturity schedule by 5 years, and provided $125 million of new capital. 

Seadrill Limited (Second Restructuring) — Representation of Seadrill Limited and certain of its direct and indirect subsidiaries in their multi-jurisdictional restructuring of approximately $6.1 billion of funded debt. Seadrill is a leading global provider of offshore contract drilling services and employs nearly 3,100 individuals across 15 countries and five continents. Seadrill's Chapter 11 cases, one of the largest filings of 2021, equitized approximately $4.9 billion of secured debt across twelve silos and facilitated a capital investment of $350 million, enabling Seadrill to continue to operate its modern fleet of drilling units.

Ascena Retail Group, Inc. — Representation of Ascena Retail Group, Inc. and its affiliates in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Virginia. At the time of its filing, Ascena was a leading specialty retailer for women and girls fora collective of seven brands, including Ann Taylor, LOFT, Lou & Grey, Lane Bryant, Cacique, Catherines, and Justice, and over 2,800 stores, approximately 37,000 employees, and $1.6 billion in funded debt. Ascena entered Chapter 11 with a restructuring support agreement designed to preserve its going concern business and allowed it to engage in a marketing process that resulted in a sale of Catherines’ assets for $40.8 million, Justice assets for $71 million, and the Lane Bryant and Premium Brands’ assets, including Ann Taylor, LOFT, and Lou & Grey, for $540 million. Ascena ultimately confirmed its Chapter 11 plan with the support of its term lenders and general unsecured creditors.

Cirque du Soleil — Representation of Cirque du Soleil, the world’s premier live entertainment media company based in Quebec, Canada, 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, Cirque du Soleil entered into a stalking horse asset purchase agreement with its sponsors for the sale of substantially all company assets. Cirque du Soleil intends to use the insolvency process to run a competitive sale and bidding process under the supervision of the Canadian Court to maximize enterprise value. Over the past 36 years, Cirque du Soleil conceptualized, produced, and presented shows to more than 180 million spectators, in approximately 450 cities across 90 countries in 6 continents.

Tapstone Energy, LLC — 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.

China Hospitals, Inc. — Representation of Cayman Islands holding company and its foreign representative in Chapter 15 recognition proceeding.

Windstream Holdings, Inc. — Representation of Windstream Holdings, Inc., and its debtor subsidiaries in their Chapter 11 restructuring in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Windstream is a leading provider of advanced network communications, technology, broadband, entertainment and security solutions to consumers and small businesses in 18 states. In bankruptcy, Windstream commenced litigation to recharacterize a $3.5 billion spin-off and master lease of certain telecommunications network assets. That litigation resulted in an innovative settlement that provided over approximately $1.2 billion in net present value and billions of dollars of improvement to Windstream’s telecommunications infrastructure. Windstream also confirmed a Chapter 11 plan or reorganization that addresses more than $5.6 billion in funded debt obligations, provides for a $750 million equity rights offering, and positions Windstream to achieve its long-term goals.

Bristow Group Inc. — Representation of 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 resulted in a restructuring led by the Unsecured Ad Hoc Group that included a $385 million rights offering and noteholders taking control of the reorganized company.