When faced with a financially distressed company or public sector entity, Fred Neufeld provides boards of directors, equity investors and lenders options and opportunities. With his extensive experience that spans most of the country’s financially distressed industries, Fred guides both debtors and creditors in out-of-court debt restructurings and bankruptcy cases. Years of experience providing similar services for cities, counties, school districts and utility districts have earned him high regard among ratings agencies as a resource for informed “special revenue” opinions for municipal bond issuances. Clients and judges alike appreciate his sound reasoning and thorough analysis of the avenues available for recovery.
Fred weighs his knowledge of recent bankruptcy case developments and changes to Delaware corporate law against his clients’ objectives to provide a realistic assessment of cost-effective strategies and likely outcomes. Whether he’s helping restructure debt or fixing a capital structure to optimize operational capability, early career lessons learned in the sale of public and private companies, public utilities and financial institutions inform his strategy. In these matters, Fred exercised his understanding of critical preemption considerations and even represented the FDIC in developing regulations for the proper handling of financial institution insolvencies.
Fred is a sought-after industry thought leader whose novel approaches to complex bankruptcy scenarios are well-documented in influential industry publications and frequently cited by U.S. appellate courts, the District of Delaware and state bankruptcy. He was invited by the U.S. State Department to speak before the committee responsible for developing China’s new bankruptcy system. He has also presented his in-depth knowledge of U.S. bankruptcy law to members of the Civil Division of the Supreme Court of Tunisia.
Fred’s representative matters include:
In the span of just four months, Fred led a large Tier-1 automotive parts manufacturer through a chapter 11 debt for equity restructuring that involved negotiating a complex settlement with the EPA.
Fred represented the creditors’ committee in another Tier-1 auto parts manufacturer chapter 11 case in which a parallel case was pending in Canada. Fred and his team established precedent that is still in use today to inform how U.S. and Canadian cases can be coordinated under one unified restructuring plan.
Fred helped a private equity buyer acquire a public company’s chapter 11 debtor’s assets, including its 120 retail store locations.
When a traditional lender’s credit bid to acquire a large chapter 11 debtor chemical company was challenged by claims of equitable subordination and recharacterization by holders of hundreds of millions in unsecured notes, Fred defended his client’s bid and ensured the deal closed successfully.
Fred counseled a syndicate of U.S. and foreign lenders in structuring their successful credit bid to acquire U.S. television stations involved in a chapter 11 case and defended the bid from a competing plan proposed by the unsecured bondholders.
Fred represented an international mining company in a successful chapter 11 reorganization whereby the pre-bankruptcy owners retained control of their equity in the company.
In confirming the City of San Bernardino’s chapter 9 plan, Fred and his Stradling partners won a precedent setting decision that was strongly opposed by city bondholders, CalPERS and certain public sector unions and allowed the city to contract with the private sector to perform services that were previously performed by city employees.
Fred weighs his knowledge of recent bankruptcy case developments and changes to Delaware corporate law against his clients’ objectives to provide a realistic assessment of cost-effective strategies and likely outcomes. Whether he’s helping restructure debt or fixing a capital structure to optimize operational capability, early career lessons learned in the sale of public and private companies, public utilities and financial institutions inform his strategy. In these matters, Fred exercised his understanding of critical preemption considerations and even represented the FDIC in developing regulations for the proper handling of financial institution insolvencies.
Fred is a sought-after industry thought leader whose novel approaches to complex bankruptcy scenarios are well-documented in influential industry publications and frequently cited by U.S. appellate courts, the District of Delaware and state bankruptcy. He was invited by the U.S. State Department to speak before the committee responsible for developing China’s new bankruptcy system. He has also presented his in-depth knowledge of U.S. bankruptcy law to members of the Civil Division of the Supreme Court of Tunisia.
Fred’s representative matters include:
In the span of just four months, Fred led a large Tier-1 automotive parts manufacturer through a chapter 11 debt for equity restructuring that involved negotiating a complex settlement with the EPA.
Fred represented the creditors’ committee in another Tier-1 auto parts manufacturer chapter 11 case in which a parallel case was pending in Canada. Fred and his team established precedent that is still in use today to inform how U.S. and Canadian cases can be coordinated under one unified restructuring plan.
Fred helped a private equity buyer acquire a public company’s chapter 11 debtor’s assets, including its 120 retail store locations.
When a traditional lender’s credit bid to acquire a large chapter 11 debtor chemical company was challenged by claims of equitable subordination and recharacterization by holders of hundreds of millions in unsecured notes, Fred defended his client’s bid and ensured the deal closed successfully.
Fred counseled a syndicate of U.S. and foreign lenders in structuring their successful credit bid to acquire U.S. television stations involved in a chapter 11 case and defended the bid from a competing plan proposed by the unsecured bondholders.
Fred represented an international mining company in a successful chapter 11 reorganization whereby the pre-bankruptcy owners retained control of their equity in the company.
In confirming the City of San Bernardino’s chapter 9 plan, Fred and his Stradling partners won a precedent setting decision that was strongly opposed by city bondholders, CalPERS and certain public sector unions and allowed the city to contract with the private sector to perform services that were previously performed by city employees.