Wharton Restructuring and Turnaround Conference

This panel will explore the largest pre-arranged bankruptcy ever completed.  Charter Communications, the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, was driven to bankruptcy in March 2009 after suffering under $21.7 billion of debt amid a tight credit environment and strong competition from direct broadcast satellite operators.  Panelists will explain how the company was able to shed approximately $8 billion of debt and reduce annual interest payments by over $800 million.  Panelists will also talk about the challenges of overcoming legal resistance from selected creditors to plan confirmation.  Finally, panelists will discuss how the company was able to raise $1.6 billion through a successful rights offering, enabling the company to emerge from bankruptcy with a more sustainable capital structure and the resources necessary to succeed in an increasingly competitive cable industry.

Cyrus Pardiwala - Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers Richard Cieri - Partner, Kirkland & Ellis
Gregory L. Doody - Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Charter Communications
Alan Kornberg - Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP
James Millstein - Senior Restructuring Advisor, U.S. Department of the Treasury
Eric Zinterhofer - Senior Partner, Apollo Management

The economic downturn has created unprecedented opportunities in the distressed debt market leading distressed and turnaround investors to raise record amounts of capital in recent years.  These investors must now determine which struggling companies will survive amidst the backdrop of a prolonged global recession, decrease in available credit and government involvement in private industry.  Panelists will offer their opinions regarding the expected scope and duration of the current economic cycle, and the industries that offer the best investment opportunities.  This panel will also focus on ways in which distressed private equity firms can preserve and grow value for their portfolio companies given the difficulty in raising new capital. Finally, panelists will offer insights concerning the future of distressed private equity investing, including expectations for returns amid increased competition and government regulation.

George Varughese - Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal John Buck - Director, Versa Capital Management
David Kreilein - Partner, Monomoy Capital Partners
David E. Simon - Managing Director, Littlejohn & Co.
Lance West - Senior Managing Director and Partner, Centerbridge Partners
Matt Wilson - Managing Director, Oaktree Capital Management
James J. Zenni - President and Chief Executive Officer, Z Capital Partners, L.L.C.

Maintaining supplier and customer relationships through the restructuring process is critical to a successful turnaround.  Are there certain industry characteristics, product types or customer bases that make success less likely?  How do developments elsewhere in the supply chain influence outcomes in the restructuring process?   With a particular focus on U.S. automotive manufacturers and Tier I suppliers, senior operational turnaround professionals, industry experts, and management will discuss challenges and strategies for managing interdependent supplier and customer relationships in an industry-wide restructuring.  Panelists will also compare their current experiences to that in previous automotive restructuring cycles. 

Mark Jenkins - Professor, The Wharton School Don Dees - President and CEO, BHM Technologies
Michael Freitag - Partner, Kekst & Company
Christopher L. Good - Director, Conway MacKenzie
Tom Morrow - Partner, AlixPartners
Mike Wall - Director, Global Financial Services, CSM Worldwide

The global financial crisis has brought very important consequences to the market for corporate control, among them the significantly increased role of governmental entities in M&A and restructuring activity.  Governments are now active participants in bankruptcies and their actions now pose critical uncertainties whenever certain firms (the infamous “too big to fail”) are involved. These uncertainties materially affect the way in which investors, advisors and other players evaluate distressed situations and will have a profound impact on how firms conduct themselves.  This panel will seek to provide context as to the scope and terms of government involvement, as well as strategies for how best to address the implications of the government’s enhanced role going forward.  Panelists will also offer their views as to the main considerations regarding government participation in the capital structure of distressed firms, reflecting on the diversity of challenges that these situations pose.

David Skeel - S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law, University of Pennsylvania Gregg M. Galardi - Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Jonathan Henes - Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Edward R. Morrison - Harvey R. Miller Professor of Law , Columbia Law School
Jeffrey D. Saferstein - Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Judge Brendan Shannon - United States Bankruptcy Judge, District of Delaware

In the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, many financial experts claimed that the pre-crisis economic model built on inexpensive debt was permanently broken.  However, recent months have shown the nascent recovery of capital deployment by investment banks and commercial banks.   As a result, credit markets have become more robust than in the trough of the crisis.  Through this cycle, hedge funds have played a significant role in providing vitally needed capital to businesses.  This panel will attempt to discuss whether and to what extent distressed investing has changed as a result of the recent economic turmoil.  The panelists will discuss their insights on the outlook for a global economic recovery and distressed investing, specific industries that are poised to outperform or underperform as a result of the economic crisis, and new sources of risk from the crisis and methods to mitigate that risk.

Samuel Greene - Managing Director, Miller Buckfire Michael Fineman - Portfolio Manager, Third Avenue Special Situations Fund
Kevin Lydon - Partner, Strategic Value Partners
Andrew Milgram - Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager, Marblegate Asset Management
Michael Thompson - Portfolio Manager, Bay Harbour Capital

With over $400 billion in leveraged loans due to mature between 2012 and 2014, lenders, borrowers and investors struggle with the possibility that a large portion of those loans will neither be repaid nor refinanced, raising the specter of a wave of defaults among high-profile borrowers.  In the wake of the crisis atmosphere of the past two years, however, issuers and lenders are not waiting passively for the tidal wave to break upon them. In this panel, we will examine how financial restructuring experts are addressing the leverage wall in advance, taking advantage of the recent easing in the credit markets to refinance their existing obligations through new issuance and exchange offers. Our panelists will discuss the challenges facing re-financing candidates and the potential opportunities – and conflicts – that exist for distressed players.

Bill Nolan - Senior Managing Director, FTI Consulting Kevin Cofsky - Managing Director, Perella Weinberg Partners
Bill Derrough - Co-Head of Recapitalization and Restructuring Group, Moelis & Company
Ray Dombrowski - Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal
Stefan Feuerabendt - Senior Managing Director, The Blackstone Group
Alexander Lemond - Founding Partner, Serengeti Asset Management LP
Stephen Sieh - Managing Director, Evercore Partners