High Yield Debt

Intercreditor disputes in bankruptcy are common.  Typically, however, they center around predictable disagreements between senior or junior classes of creditors such as valuation battles or lien perfection challenges.  A recent decision in the Delaware chapter 11 case of TPC Group has highlighted a new trend of “intra-creditor class warfare,” involving, in the understated words of

The treatment of make-whole premiums in chapter 11 cases in solvent debtor cases has become an important issue in recent years for corporate issuers and bondholders.  This post will examine a recent decision in the Hertz case by Judge Mary Walrath of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on the allowance of such claims.  (Judge Walrath also addressed other topics in her decision pertaining to the treatment of unimpaired creditors and postpetition interest, which will be examined in a separate post.)

The New York Court of Appeals recently handed down an important opinion on out of court restructurings involving bond debt. In CNH Diversified Opportunities Master Account, L.P., v. Cleveland Unlimited, Inc., the Court of Appeals, in a 4–3 ruling, diverged from the Second Circuit’s ruling a few years ago in Marblegate Asset Mgt., LLC v Education Mgt. Fin. Corp. and resuscitated rights of minority bondholders under the Trust Indenture Act which were limited under Marblegate.