Valuation

As bankruptcy became a reality for many companies during the pandemic, valuation became a key question. In September 2020, Bloomberg commented, “Pinning a dollar value on a bankrupt enterprise is hard in the best of times. During a pandemic, it’s an invitation for a fight.” This session will discuss approaches to valuation in periods of volatility and business disruption, and how courts have dealt with the ensuing disputes.

This panel will provide a lively discussion of valuation, liability management transactions, corporate governance, ethics and the bankruptcy process set against the backdrop of the Casears restructuring and chapter 11 case. The panelists, all of whom were intimately involved in the Caesars bankruptcy as principal, advisor or journalist, will offer their unique insights into this fascinating chapter 11 case and the lessons (legal, practical and ethical) it teaches for restructurings today.

This panel will examine the fraudulent transfer (and other) risks associated with a leveraged transaction, including LBOs and dividend recap transactions, and the steps that may be taken to mitigate those risks. The panelists will approach each topic with a 360-degree view, exploring the issues from the perspectives of board members, debt capital providers and equity sponsors/shareholders.

Today’s chapter 11 cases tend to include upfront announcements of the debtor’s preferred exit strategy. We often see the debtor’s first-day announcement of a pre-negotiated plan structure or an already “half-baked” sale process, as well as DIP loan covenants, driving the announced strategy to a quick and assured conclusion. But what if that plan or sale process is not designed (perhaps intentionally so) to accurately reflect the business’s true inherent worth? This panel will explore how a debtor’s ultimate valuation can be determined more by the bankruptcy process than by the underlying business data.

The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as recent political and economic events, have highlighted a number of complicated and hotly debated issues regarding the valuation of airlines in the context of restructurings. This panel will discuss, among other things, how macroeconomic issues are impacting business plans and valuations, the way valuation issues play out in large airline restructurings, and investors’ views on the role that valuation plays in investment decisions and negotiations of restructuring transactions.

Negotiation and litigation regarding the allocation of value become more challenging when the debtor is part of an insolvent conglomerate. Parties must consider the allocation of value among subsidiaries and the presence of intercompany claims, guaranties and other complexities. This panel will discuss lessons learned and best practices for negotiating and litigating value allocation, focusing on recent bankruptcy cases and viewpoints from financial, legal and judicial perspectives.

Unprecedented levels of government stimulus, record levels of IPOs and an explosion of the SPAC market provided an abundance of liquidity to an already-buoyant market. These factors, combined with historically low interest rates, have fueled record levels of M&A and refinancing activity. This panel will examine the effects that this "easy money" has had on valuations throughout the pandemic, and compare these effects to companies' valuation outlooks for the remainder of calendar year 2022 and beyond.

This panel will examine current developments that may affect asset, enterprise and plan valuations. The panelists will discuss evolving market factors, the latest legal developments, and changing trends in valuation methodology.

This case-study-based discussion will focus on valuation for companies significantly impacted by COVID-19. The panelists will discuss recent cases where the market and business uncertainty caused by the pandemic led to unpredictable or unexpected valuation outcomes. Further consideration will be given as to how these outcomes might (or might not) be relevant going forward.