Advisory Services - Restructuring

Business downturns and failures are inevitable. Recovery—whether returning to profitability and creating shareholder value or salvaging viable assets to repay a secured creditor—involves a broad array of options for company owners and managers, creditors, shareholders, and other parties-in-interest. CFA professionals can bring order to financial turmoil and provide structure amid disarray in these trying circumstances.

CFA has a reputation for thorough and comprehensive investigations and analyses of the vital factors in every restructuring, and effectively advocating clients' interests. Our goal is to create and properly direct an efficient restructuring process: maximizing value and minimizing delay.

Having advised parties at all levels of the capital structure, CFA professionals possess a multifaceted understanding of restructuring dynamics, as well as keen insights into the attitudes and positions of the parties-in-interest. Their ability to both anticipate the many variables of restructuring cases and analyze situations from the perspective of each constituency provides unique benefits to their clients. While the restructuring process is inherently fraught with risk and uncertainty, the professionals at CFA strive to manage outcomes for the benefit of their clients, often employing innovative and unconventional methods when situations demand creativity. The firm's restructuring services cover three broad areas: Distressed M&A, Bankruptcy and Informal Restructurings.

Distressed Mergers and Acquisitions

CFA has extensive experience in distressed deals involving a change of control, asset sales and other M&A activities for middle-market corporations. These situations may involve restructuring debt and equity securities or asset divestitures, or selling a company or its assets quickly under extremely distressed circumstances.

While CFA generally serves as the sell-side investment banker in these transactions by soliciting and negotiating the sale transaction, the firm has advised almost every potential participant in a variety of roles in the distressed M&A context. The firm specializes in advising middle-market companies "under the gun," where a disposition strategy depends on running a prompt, concerted, sophisticated M&A process.

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy can be a viable option in many situations. For companies considering bankruptcy, as well as those already in bankruptcy court, CFA provides an array of services to support parties, including debtors, creditors, equity holders, acquirors, and others. CFA professionals are equipped to perform the groundwork for a bankruptcy case, from analyzing the difficult cost/benefit issues of a voluntary (or involuntary) filing, to obtaining "DIP" financing and "cash collateral" utilization to ensure liquidity to fund the process, and a seemingly limitless array of hybrid financial analyses. Finally, exiting bankruptcy involving a sale, outside financing, rights offerings, or internal securities modifications/conversions, can be effectuated with the analytical, testimonial, and capital markets assistance of CFA.

Informal Restructurings

CFA identifies, negotiates, structures, and executes the best possible solution for its clients outside of bankruptcy court. These services include structuring, negotiating, and soliciting exchange offers on behalf of companies or security holders; arranging financing; conducting valuations for collateral, cancellation of indebtedness income, and general corporate purposes; advising on the sale or purchase of all or selected corporate assets; refinancing existing securities or raising new capital in privately placed transactions and renegotiating terms of major leases.