Successful Restructurings of 2020

In its annual report on the bankruptcy industry, Turnarounds & Workouts recognized Kirkland & Ellis as counsel in 27 of the successful 58 bankruptcy filings of 2020: Acosta, Inc., Akorn, Inc., Arena Energy, L.P., Associated Materials, Inc., Bluestem Brands, Inc., Briggs & Stratton Corp., Bruin E&P Partners, LLC, Casual Dining Group, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, Denbury Resources Inc., FTS International, Inc., Guitar Center, Inc., Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc., iQor Holdings, Inc., J.C. Penney Company, Inc., J.Jill, Inc., McDermott International, Inc., Mood Media Corporation, Murray Energy Holdings Co., Neiman Marcus Group LTD LLC, Oasis Petroleum Inc., Salt Creek Midstream LLC, Sheridan Holding Company I and II, LLC, Tailored Brands, Inc., Tapstone Energy, LLC, Whiting Petroleum Corporation and Windstream Holdings, LLC.

Acosta, Inc.
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Edward Sassower, Joshua Sussberg, Christopher Greco and Spencer Winters. Acosta emerged from bankruptcy in January 2020.

Akorn, Inc.
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Nicole Greenblatt, Patrick Nash, Gregory Pesce and Christopher Hayes. Akorn emerged from bankruptcy in October 2020.

Arena Energy, L.P.
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Brian Schartz, Neil Herman and Gregory Pesce. Arena emerged from bankruptcy in October 2020.

Associated Materials, Inc.
Counsel to the company included Kirkland restructuring partners Nicole Greenblatt, Joe Graham, Alexander Nicas and capital markets partners Sophia Hudson and Luke Jennings. Associated Materials completed an out-of-court comprehensive balance sheet recapitalization that converted more than 99% of senior secured notes into substantially all of the common equity of a new parent.

Bluestem Brands, Inc.
Counsel to debtors included Kirkland restructuring partners Patrick Nash and Benjamin Winger. Bluestem emerged from bankruptcy in August 2020.

Briggs & Stratton Corp.
Counsel to buyer included Kirkland restructuring partners Chad Husnick and Gregory Pesce, corporate partner Joshua Kogan, debt finance partner Melissa Hutson and tax partner Benjamin Schreiner. Briggs & Stratton declared its Chapter 11 plan effective in January 2021.

Bruin E&P Partners, LLC
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Steven Serajeddini, Benjamin Winger and AnnElyse Gains. Bruin emerged from bankruptcy in August 2020.

Casual Dining Group
Counsel to company included Kirkland restructuring partners Elaine Nolan and James Watson. Joint Administrators were appointed over Casual Dining Group and its subsidiaries in July 2020.

Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Chad Husnick and Aparna Yenamandra. Cirque du Soleil emerged from creditor protection in November 2020.

Denbury Resources Inc.
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Joshua Sussberg, Christopher Marcus, David Eaton and Rebecca Chaikin. Denbury emerged from bankruptcy in September 2020.

FTS International, Inc.
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Joshua Sussberg, Alexander Nicas, Emily Geier and Brian Schartz. FTS International’s prepackaged plan of reorganization allowed the Company to deleverage its balance sheet by equitizing all prepetition funded debt ($437M).

Guitar Center, Inc.
Counsel to Ares PE Extended Value Fund LP as sponsor support party included Kirkland restructuring partners Anup Sathy and Brad Weiland, transactional partner Michael Woronoff and capital markets partner Philippa Bond. Guitar Center emerged from bankruptcy in December 2020.

Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc.
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Edward Sassower and Ryan Bennett. Hornbeck emerged from bankruptcy in September 2020.

iQor Holdings, Inc.
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partner Christopher Marcus. Through its prepackaged Chapter 11 cases, iQor eliminated about $500M in funded debt obligations, obtained $175M in exit financing, and left general unsecured creditors unimpaired.

J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Joshua Sussberg, Christopher Marcus and Aparna Yenamandra. JCPenney announced its sale and exit from the Chapter 11 process in December 2020.

J.Jill, Inc.
Counsel to company included Kirkland restructuring partners Jonathan Henes and Neil Herman. J.Jill avoided a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing after a majority of its lenders and shareholders agreed to support an out-of-court financial restructuring.

McDermott International, Inc.
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Christopher Greco, James Sprayregen, Joshua Sussberg, Anthony Grossi and Jack Luze. McDermott emerged from bankruptcy in June 2020.

Mood Media Corporation
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Christopher Greco, Edward Sassower, Joshua Sussberg and Benjamin Winger. Mood Media emerged from bankruptcy in July 2020.

Murray Energy Holdings Co.
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Nicole Greenblatt, Ross Kwasteniet and Joe Graham. Murray Energy emerged from bankruptcy in September 2020.

Neiman Marcus Group LTD LLC
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Anup Sathy, Chad Husnick and Matthew Fagen. Neiman Marcus emerged from bankruptcy in September 2020.

Oasis Petroleum Inc.
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Chad Husnick, Brian Schartz, AnnElyse Gains and Jack Luze and capital markets partner Matthew Pacey. Oasis emerged from bankruptcy in November 2020.

Salt Creek Midstream LLC
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Anup Sathy, Brian Schartz and Alexandra Schwarzman. The recapitalization closed in July 2020.

Sheridan Holding Company I and II
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restricting partners Steven Serajeddini, Joshua Sussberg and Spencer Winters. Sheridan I obtained confirmation of its plan one day after the Chapter 11 filing, and the Debtors emerged on March 30, 2020, only six days following the petition date. Sheridan II’s prepackaged restructuring addressed over $1.1B of funded debt obligations through a prepackaged plan with a toggle structure that allowed for either an equitization or a sale of all, or substantially all, of Sheridan II’s assets.

Tailored Brands, Inc.
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Joshua Sussberg, Christopher Marcus and Aparna Yenamandra. Tailored Brands emerged from bankruptcy in December 2020.

Tapstone Energy, LLC
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Christopher Marcus, Brian Schartz and Whitney Fogelberg. Tapstone concluded a comprehensive financial restructuring plan to recapitalize its balance sheet and fortify its liquidity in April 2020.

Whiting Petroleum Corporation
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Brian Schartz, Stephen Hessler, Gregory Pesce and Christopher Koenig, corporate partner Sean Wheeler and capital markets partner Julian Seiguer. Whiting emerged from bankruptcy in September 2020.

Windstream Holdings, Inc.
Counsel to debtor included Kirkland restructuring partners Stephen Hessler, Ross Kwasteniet, James Sprayregen and Brad Weiland and litigation partner Richard Howell. Windstream emerged from bankruptcy in September 2020.