AlixPartners, the global consulting firm, announced that two of its consultants have been recognized by the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) for its distinguished “Turnaround and Transaction of the Year” awards, to be presented at the TMA’s 31st Annual Conference in Cleveland, Ohio this month.

The AlixPartners honorees are:

• Lisa Donahue, Managing Director and Global Co-Leader of AlixPartners’ Turnaround and Restructuring practice, is being recognized in the Mega Company Turnaround of the Year category for her work with Westinghouse Electric Company, where Lisa held the role of Chief Transition and Development Officer.
• Alastair Beveridge, Managing Director, is being recognized in the International Company Transaction of the Year category for his work as restructuring advisor to Agrokor d.d.

“I congratulate Lisa, Alastair, and the members of their project teams for their incredible diligence, teamwork, and collaboration in successfully completing two of the most complicated business transformations that our firm has ever seen,” said Joff Mitchell, Global Co-Leader of the Turnaround and Restructuring practice at AlixPartners and a Managing Director at the firm. “Given their wide-reaching impacts, both Agrokor and Westinghouse are assignments which embody AlixPartners’ ‘When it really matters’ approach. I am especially proud of every member of the multi-functional and cross-border teams we deployed, all of whom combined to deliver the best possible results for our clients and other key stakeholders in these two hugely significant restructuring cases.”

Below is a synopsis of each award-winning engagement:

Westinghouse Electric Company LLC

On August 1, 2018, Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (Westinghouse) and its affiliates completed its $4.6 billion sale to Brookfield Business Partners LP (together with institutional partners) and emerged from chapter 11.  The successful Westinghouse restructuring was predicated on an ambitious, large-scale transformation that delivered annualized EBITDA improvements of approximately $250 million.  This complex and multi-faceted undertaking involved: a product portfolio optimization and plant consolidation effort focused on improving operational efficiency, enterprise-wide process re-engineering to enhance productivity,= sourcing projects to drive procurement savings, renegotiation of unprofitable contracts, the selling or unwinding of unprofitable joint ventures, streamlining of policies and processes for more efficient decision making, operating model changes to simplify reporting structures,
facility consolidations to increase space utilization from less than 70% to more than 90%; and workforce optimization to better manage resources and project profitability.

In less than 12 months, Westinghouse was able to successfully execute a turnaround and confirm a consensual chapter 11 plan of reorganization which provides for the sale and continuation of the Westinghouse nuclear energy business, delivers significant recoveries to customers, vendors, employees, and other stakeholders, and allows Westinghouse to continue to build on its legacy as a leader and innovator in the nuclear industry.

Agrokor D.D.

Agrokor, a food and retail conglomerate, is the largest corporate in the Balkans region, employing over 50,000 people and accounting for approximately 15% of Croatia’s GDP. In July 2018, creditors of Croatia-based retail conglomerate Agrokor d.d., its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, voted to approve the group’s €6 billion debt restructuring which would effectively move the company out of the protection provided by “Lex Agrokor,” the bespoke law implemented in April 2017. The restructuring plan, supported by over 80% of the group’s creditors, was confirmed by the High Commercial Court of Zagreb in October 2018. The plan delivered 100% ownership of the group to its creditors via a debt-for-equity swap. During the process, a $1.06 billion super senior debt  facility was raised to normalize operations and pay down certain pre-petition claims. The company also successfully defended legal challenges across multiple jurisdictions to both the process and the law. Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic, stated, "The fact that 80.2 percent of creditors voted in favor of the settlement is strong support and a confirmation of the successfully organized and led process of emergency administration in one of the biggest economic crises that threatened the stability of the Croatian economy, the stability of many Croatian companies, and many jobs."