Claire Stephens

Brentwood Associates: Representation of Brentwood Associates and certain of its affiliated funds (“Brentwood”) in the Chapter 11 cases of Soft Surroundings Holdings, LLC and its affiliated debtors (“Soft Surroundings”) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Brentwood is a majority equity owner and holder of the second lien debt of Soft Surroundings, a lifestyle brand and retailer of women’s apparel, makeup, and home décor inspired by great Northwest. Soft Surroundings filed for Chapter 11 relief on September 10 to restructure its nearly $70 million in funded debt liabilities and to pursue a sale of its e-commerce platform in tandem with an orderly wind down of its brick-and-mortar footprint.

Center for Autism and Related Disorders, LLC: Representation of Center for Autism and Related Disorders, LLC (“CARD”) and four of its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. CARD is one of the nation’s largest treatment providers for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Prior to filing for Chapter 11, CARD entered into a stalking horse asset purchase agreement for a going-concern sale of substantially all of CARD’s assets. CARD intends to use the Chapter 11 cases to run a competitive sale and bidding process to maximize enterprise value. CARD entered the Chapter 11 cases with a new money, delayed draw term loan debtor-in-possession financing facility from the company’s prepetition credit facility lenders.

Aearo Technologies LLC: Representation of Aearo Technologies LLC and its debtor affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Aearo Technologies is a market leader in the energy control space, providing custom noise, vibration, thermal, and shock protection solutions to the aerospace, commercial vehicle, heavy equipment, and electronics industries. Aearo Technologies and its non-Debtor parent 3M are defendants in the largest multi-district litigation in history, with over 230,000 personal injury claims filed related to certain historical Aearo products.

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 to restructure its approximately $4.5 billion of funded debt obligations by way of a new money capitalization generated by an up to $1.65 billion new money capitalization generated by an equity rights offering backstopped by the Ad Hoc Group. 

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.

KPS Capital Partners, LP: Representation of KPS Capital Partners, LP (“KPS”) as DIP lender, stalking horse bidder, and ultimate purchaser of Briggs & Stratton Corp. and its affiliates (“Briggs & Stratton”). The $550 million acquisition was approved in Briggs & Stratton’s Chapter 11 cases in the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Valaris plc: Representation of Valaris plc and 89 of its subsidiaries in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases. Valaris, which is incorporated in the United Kingdom, is the world’s largest offshore driller by fleet size, owning 67 drilling rigs and operating in every major offshore hydrocarbon basin throughout the globe. Valaris filed Chapter 11 with a restructuring support agreement and backstop commitment agreement to fully equitize all $7.1 billion of its prepetition funded debt, consisting of an unsecured revolving credit facility and 15 series of unsecured notes. The noteholders supporting the restructuring also have committed to a fully backstopped rights offering for $500 million of new secured notes upon emergence from Chapter 11 as well as to provide a $500 million DIP financing facility. 

Technicolor S.A.: Representation of Technicolor S.A. (“Technicolor”), a Paris-based global leader in content creation to distribution for Hollywood studios, independent filmmakers, music producers, and video game and software developers in its Chapter 15 proceeding pending before the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The Chapter 15 proceeding is part of a comprehensive restructuring strategy to raise €420 million in new financing and refinance Technicolor’s existing $477.8 million and €977 million of funded debt through an accelerated financial safeguard proceeding under French law. Technicolor and its subsidiaries together employ more than 14,000 artists, experts, engineers, and innovators operating in 27 key media markets worldwide, including the United States, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom.

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.

Dura Automotive Systems, LLC: Representation of Dura Automotive Systems, LLC and certain of its subsidiaries (“Dura”), a leading independent designer and manufacturer of automotive systems, including mechatronic systems, exterior systems, and lightweight structural systems, in their Chapter 11 cases. As of its Chapter 11 filing, Dura and its affiliates had operations in thirteen countries with sales from its three main product segments generating approximately $1.1 billion in 2018.