It begins with an awkward mouthful. Outside a bankruptcy brief, is “unimpairment” even a word? (No, per Merriam-Webster.) Inside Chapter 11, it’s much more: a trend.

Want to refinance your bonds cheaply? Are you an otherwise sound and solvent business, forced into bankruptcy by a massive fire (PG&E), persistent low commodity pricing (Ultra Petroleum), or a pandemic (Hertz, whose airport rental business was shuttered in 2020 by COVID-19)?

Or would you just prefer to boost your stock value by lowering your coupon?

This is how Tribune ends: not with a bang, but a whimper. The 12-year litigation saga, rooted in the spectacular failure of the media and sports conglomerate’s 2007 leveraged buyout, reached an end in late February with a curt “cert. denied” from the US Supreme Court.

Morgan Lewis was one of the firms that captained the defense for Tribune’s former shareholders. This post notes some lessons that we learned—and relearned.

Lesson One: Section 546(e)’s ‘New’ Safe Harbor

Simon Hurry and James Tee, Collas Crill

This is an extract from the 2022 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.

In summary

Patrick Gearon and Roger Elford, Charles Russell Speechlys

This is an extract from the 2022 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.

In summary

Luc Defferrard and Tervel Stoyanov, Walder Wyss Ltd

This is an extract from the 2022 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.

In summary

Maria João Ricou and Manuel Requicha Ferreira, Cuatrecasas

This is an extract from the 2022 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.

In summary

The US Supreme Court tends to hear a couple of bankruptcy cases per term. Most of these cases deal with interpreting provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. However, every few years or so, the Supreme Court decides a constitutional issue in bankruptcy. Some are agita-inducing (Northern Pipeline, Stern), some less so (Katz). The upcoming case is a little more nuanced, but could have major consequences.

Matthew Czyzyk, Natalie Blanc and Natalie Raine, Ropes & Gray

This is an extract from the 2022 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.

In summary

Alexandros Kontogeorgiou and Georgia Papathanasiou, Kontogeorgiou Bakopanou & Associates Law Firm

This is an extract from the 2022 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.

In summary

Ferdinand Hengst and Agnieszka Gronwald, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek

This is an extract from the 2022 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.

In summary