Restructuring activity during the first quarter of 2018 was driven by large retail, oil and gas, and media bankruptcies with a heavy emphasis on pre-packaged and pre-arranged plans,according to a new report from Debtwire.

The report, Restructuring Insights, features case level information that includes filing and exit strategies, involved creditors and their disclosed holdings as well as retained advisors and their disclosed fees.
 
Recent trends in corporate bankruptcy include:

• iHeart, Exco, Claire’s, and The Weinstein Company were some of the high-profile 1Q2018 bankruptcy filers, while the big names that emerged were international oil and gas companies Ocean Rig and CGG, and 4Q2017 bankruptcy filers Expro, Walter Investment Management, and Global A&T Electronics   

• Companies were slightly more likely to enter U.S. bankruptcy protection with a pre-arranged/pre-packaged plan than they were to enter via a “free-fall” (42.5% vs. 40%).

•  The retail and oil and gas sectors were once again responsible for the most new bankruptcy filings (6 each), while oil and gas was responsible for over 33% of all newly emerged names.

• Companies most frequently reorganized by handing over their stock to creditors without selling off any major assets or operations (well over 50%).

• Comparatively, the “all asset” sale strategy was more frequent in bankruptcies reviewed in 4Q2018 (~33% vs. 68%). Also in contrast to 4Q2018, liquidation plans were much less prevalent than reorganization plans.

• BofA Merrill Lynch led the rankings for both cases filed and cases closed in 1Q2018, followed by Wells Fargo in newly filed cases and Goldman Sachs in recently closed cases.

• BlueMountain Capital Management had debt restructured in the greatest number of cases that closed during 1Q2018 (6 instruments in 5 cases), most of which received recoveries that included an equitization component.

• Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan had debt restructured in the next highest amount of cases (4 each). All of Goldman’s recoveries included a debt component, while most of Credit Suisse’s and JPMorgan’s recoveries included equitizations. 

“Debtwire’s Restructuring Insights report provides valuable analysis on the restructuring landscape in 1Q2018, from a detailed sector analysis to the activity of individual players in restructurings,” said Jack Tracy, Head of Legal Analysis for Debtwire. “The report specifically illustrates a continued prevalence of Oil & Gas and Retail companies in the in-court restructuring space at the top of this year, followed by an abnormally high Media presence partly due to the high profile restructurings of iHeartMedia and The Weinstein Company.”
 
Key League Table findings from the Restructuring Insights report:

• In cases that filed in 1Q2018, Akin Gump was the most active lead counsel, while Moelis and PJT Partners were the leading financial advisors (each with 7 hires).

•  Within that time period, Weil Gotshal and Kirkland & Ellis obtained the most company-side mandates, while Pryor Cashman had the most financial creditor mandates.  

• For cases that closed in 1Q2018, Houlihan Lokey and Kirkland & Ellis were the leading FA and lead bankruptcy counsel, respectively.  

“The league table function is unique in that it allows for customization based on both the advisor type and party advised, as well as across venues, sectors, time periods, and debtor size,” said Josh Friedman, Manager of Restructuring Data for Debtwire. “The league tables also provide rankings based on either the number of representations or the total amount of debt affected by the bankruptcy.