2018 VALCON: Cutting-Edge Valuation Solutions

Ethical considerations in the preparation and presentation of financial consultants as expert witnesses and other ethics hot topics including recent developments in disclosure requirements and civility.

The valuation of financially distressed and insolvent higher-education and health care organizations is impacted by numerous factors, including government funding/reimbursement, changing business models and macroeconomic factors. This panel will examine recent developments in these areas and discuss how they impact valuation engagements.

Join us for a discussion on hot topics and recent developments in chapter 11, including circuit splits, cross-border protocols, local rules and recent Supreme Court decisions. Conference attendees will have the opportunity to pose questions to the panel. Attendees interested in submitting questions are asked to post questions by email not later than 24 hours prior to this session (address will be provided upon conference registration).

During this session, the panelists will discuss the role and responsibility of boards of directors in monitoring for insolvency and taking action, along with a retrospective view of how this has unfolded in certain industries and what indicators were present. Finally, we will consider where valuations fall short at being predictive.

Hot areas breed hot issues. On this panel, the panelists will cover a variety of hot topics in retail today, including (1) dividend recapitalizations, (2) asset-stripping and dropdown financing, and (3) approaches to valuing intellectual property. This diverse panel, representing a cross-section of the restructuring industry, will discuss a variety of in-court and out-of-court situations.

This panel will discuss a number of valuation issues that frequently arise in assessing and litigating fraudulent transfer actions, including (1) valuing contingent assets and liabilities (e.g., environmental liabilities, pending litigation, guarantees, tax attributes, subrogation, contribution and reimbursement claims), (2) avoiding the use of hindsight in assessing solvency and adequate capital, and (3) the use of market-based evidence, including debt and equity trading prices, as well as contemporaneous investments of capital. The panel will also discuss Merit Management Group LP v. FTI Consulting Inc., which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, regarding the applicability of the § 546(e) safe-harbor defense.

This panel will discuss the use of rights offerings as a bridge to exiting bankruptcy for reorganizing debtors. The panelists will focus on evolving market trends and hot-button issues arising in recent cases, such as backstop participation and related fees, treatment of nonparticipants, and questions regarding shifting values. We will also touch on other financing alternatives that reorganizing entities may consider in bridging the gap to exit.

Technology has brought about radical changes in the energy industry, including the creation of new E&P companies, new cost structures and “just-in-time” revenue opportunities, and challenges to all companies in the production-to-consumer stream, including servicing and mid-stream. These changes, and the uncertainty regarding pricing and the evolution of new, unconventional competition, have led to a number of restructurings during the last cycle, as well as uncertainty on the appropriate capital structure and status for the industry going forward. As we transition from the last energy restructuring cycle of 2015-17, what is our takeaway from the key valuation and other issues that were faced? Does the industry require different thinking regarding the relative amounts of debt versus equity? What is the state of energy dealmaking and capital markets? Can we expect further industry restructuring and consolidation? What is the future of unconventional energy sources and traditional offshore sources? Our energy experts will examine these and other issues from a variety of different perspectives, including deal-making, judicial, legal, operations and financial.

Based on the incredibly popular “TED Talks” format, VALCON Talks will give four seasoned experts the opportunity to discuss changes they would make to the corporate bankruptcy system. If you consider yourself a bankruptcy guru or just want to be one, you won’t want to miss this program!

This panel will discuss issues that have arisen in recent cases regarding adequate protection, including the right and wisdom of current cash payments in the form of legal fees for “secured” creditors, how diminution in value claims for different types of assets are determined, how intercreditor agreements may limit junior secured creditors’ rights to demand and receive adequate protection, and the valuation of assets, including assets used in commodity businesses where value can be cyclical.