Voting Rights Assignment Unenforceable, but Subordinated Creditor Lacked Standing to Participate in Chapter 11 Plan Confirmation Process
by | posted in: Chapter 11, Cramdown and Priority, Priority | 0

By Dan B. Prieto (Jones Day) and Mark G. Douglas (Jones Day)

Dan B. Prieto
Mark G. Douglas

In In re Fencepost Productions Inc., 629 B.R. 289 (Bankr. D. Kan. 2021), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas recently addressed the enforceability of a provision in a pre-bankruptcy subordination agreement under which a subordinated creditor assigned to a senior creditor its right to vote on any chapter 11 plan proposed for the borrower. The bankruptcy court ruled that such a provision is not enforceable because it conflicts with the Bankruptcy Code. In a twist, however, the court concluded that the subordinated creditor lacked “prudential standing” to participate in the confirmation process because it was extremely out-of-the-money and therefore had no stake in the outcome of the case, but was attempting to assert the rights of third parties.

Courts disagree over whether an assignment of plan voting rights in an intercreditor or subordination agreement is enforceable. Regardless of the particular approach adopted by a court on this issue, the growing consensus is that agreements that seek to limit or waive junior creditors’ voting rights must contain express language to that effect. The ruling in Fencepost adds yet another chapter to the ongoing debate on this issue.

 The Fencepost court’s conclusion that the subordinated creditor lacked prudential standing would appear to be driven in part by the facts of the case, which involved a subordinated, clearly out-of-the-money creditor intent upon impeding an otherwise consensual reorganization.

The Bankruptcy Code, however, expressly provides to the contrary by, among other things, giving every “party in interest” (including creditors and interest holders, without making an exception in cases where there is no value available for distribution to them), the right to appear and be heard “on any issue” in a chapter 11 case, the right to vote on a chapter 11 plan, and the right to object to confirmation of a plan. These provisions arguably indicate that Congress intended to modify or abrogate prudential standing requirements when it enacted the Bankruptcy Code. Moreover, the “rights” any out-of-the-money creditor or shareholder would be seeking to enforce by participating in the confirmation process are arguably their own, rather than the rights of third parties.

A logical extension of the rationale articulated in Fencepost is that clearly out-of-the-money creditors or shareholders of an insolvent corporation would never have prudential standing to participate in the chapter 11 plan confirmation process. That approach would be contrary to court rulings and general practice in many chapter 11 cases.

The full article can be accessed here.

Recharacterization of Debt as Equity in the Fourth Circuit
by | posted in: Cramdown and Priority | 0

By Gabrielle Glemann (Hughes Hubbard & Reed)

In an unpublished opinion in August, In re Province Grande Old Liberty, LLC, Case No. 15-1669, 2016 WL 4254917 (4th Cir. Aug. 12, 2016), the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals shed some light on the circumstances under which a court may recharacterize debt as an equity investment, effectively subordinating the claim.  The issue before the Fourth Circuit was not one of first impression — the Fourth Circuit had long recognized that a bankruptcy court’s equitable powers include “the ability to look beyond form to substance,” and had previously articulated the factors to consider in evaluating a request for recharacterization. See Fairchild Dornier GMBH v. Official Comm. of Unsecured Creditors (In re Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors for Dornier Aviation (North America), Inc.), 453 F.3d 225 (4th Cir. 2006). The Fourth Circuit decision is notable however, because the court looked beyond the facts giving rise to the underlying claim at issue and ultimately to the economic substance of the entire context of the transaction.  In Province, the creditor whose claim was at issue was a company owned by insiders of the debtor.  The creditors’ claim was based on a loan that was used by the debtor to settle other obligations.  The court held that the settlement agreement was the “substance of the transaction” and a basis for recharacterization, notwithstanding the fact that the creditor was not a party to the settlement agreement.

The full memo is available here.

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Holds That Claims Arising from Securities of a Debtor’s Affiliate Must Be Subordinated to Senior or Equal Claims of the Same Type as the Underlying Securities
by | posted in: Cramdown and Priority | 0

By Fredric Sosnick, Douglas P. Bartner, Joel Moss, Solomon J. Noh and Ned S. Schodek of  Shearman & Sterling LLP

 

Lehman Brothers Inc. (“LBI”) was lead underwriter for unsecured notes issued by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., LBI’s affiliate and parent. A Master Agreement Among Underwriters governed the relationship between LBI and the offering’s junior underwriters, and created among them a right of indemnification for liabilities resulting from securities fraud claims related to the offerings.

 

Following the bankruptcy of Lehman Holdings and the SIPA proceeding of LBI, investors filed securities fraud lawsuits alleging material misstatements and omissions in the offering documents, and asserted claims for contribution against LBI. The SIPA trustee objected, arguing that the claims were subject to mandatory subordination under § 510(b) of the Bankruptcy Code. The underwriters argued that because Lehman Holdings, not LBI, issued the securities, § 510(b) did not apply to the underwriters’ claims.

 

The Second Circuit held that claims arising from securities of a debtor’s affiliate must be subordinated to all claims senior or equal to claims of the same type as the underlying securities. As a result, the claims for contribution and reimbursement for losses incurred in the course of defending and settling securities fraud lawsuits brought by investors in securities issued by LBI’s affiliate were subordinated to the claims of LBI’s general unsecured creditors pursuant to § 510(b).

 

This Court of Appeals’ decision was based on precedent, textual support and legislative history, and it clarifies the appropriate classification of claims in the affiliate-securities context.

 

For the full memo is available here.