Workouts and Financial Restructuring

The Pullman & Comley, LLC Workouts and Financial Restructuring practice advises clients when financial hardships strain contractual relationships, including lender-borrower and landlord-tenant relationships.  Comprised of lawyers from the firm’s Real Estate, Business, Commercial Litigation, and Bankruptcy and Creditor’s Rights practices, the Workouts and Financial Restructuring team possesses the experience and knowledge base to guide clients through the difficult decisions they are forced to make in the face of economic crises, including the current crisis caused by global public health concerns.  Our attorneys regularly advise clients through out-of-court financial restructurings, Chapter 11 reorganizations, enforcement litigation including summary process, foreclosure, and actions to enforce creditor’s rights both in and out of bankruptcy court proceedings, and lender liability claims. For example, the Workouts and Financial Restructuring team has:

• Advised borrowers and lenders in default situations arising from payment and covenant defaults, and in connection with negotiating forbearance agreements, deed-in-lieu of foreclosure agreements and amendments to loan documents;
• Represented lenders, borrowers and guarantors through collection, mortgage foreclosure and UCC-foreclosure proceedings and lender liability litigation in both state and federal courts;
• Assisted clients in debt restructurings and the sale and purchase of distressed assets and businesses, including through “363 sales” conducted through the bankruptcy process;
• Advised landlords and tenants through negotiations over defaults, rent reduction and rent deferral requests and conversion of deferred rent to loans, forbearance agreements and amendments to leases;
• Represented landlords and tenants in eviction proceedings and collection lawsuits against tenants and guarantors;

The attorneys in our Workouts and Financial Restructuring practice are in regular contact with stakeholders and key players in their respective fields, which allows the interdisciplinary team to offer guidance on the state of the market and provide clients with the perspective they need to make well-informed decisions, often before circumstances worsen.

• Represented lender in 2020 and 2021 in connection with a successful forbearance and workout agreement of several working capital credit facilities and mortgage loans in the aggregate amount in excess of $35million.  The borrower is an international manufacturer of lighting equipment with several locations in the United States and headquartered in Stamford, CT
• Represented several lenders, including credit unions, community banks, regional banks and national banks in connection with forbearance agreements and deed in lieu of foreclosure agreements and transactions concerning office, retail, industrial and hotel properties
• Represented lender in connection with foreclosure of $2.5million loan secured by a multi-tenant office building in Fairfield, Connecticut, including defending several claims made by the borrower and members of the borrower against the lender stemming from allegations by some members of the borrower that other members of the borrowers did not have authority to speak with or make payments to the lender
• Represented group of lenders in the restructuring and rehabilitation of a financial services company that involved the liquidation of assets to satisfy the claims of the secured creditor, the release of claims by certain lenders in exchange for a reduced payment and negotiating an agreement which resulted in no interruption of the financial services and enabled the company to originate financing transactions to pay the remaining lenders
• Represented consumer products company in successfully restructuring and compromising secured and unsecured debt
• Represented shopping mall-based market research company in successfully compromising commercial lease obligations on leases throughout the United States
• Represented a lender in connection with the negotiation and execution of a forbearance agreement concerning several covenant and payment defaults under various commercial credit facilities aggregating approximately $27 million (not including associated interest rate swaps) and restructuring the loans on a going forward basis
• Worked with large Connecticut chartered community bank to create a template modification agreement for their commercial credit facilities that would allow them to defer interest and/or principal payments for a short period of time (3-6 months) to help borrowers dealing with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Represented several landlords in negotiating and drafting rent forbearance agreements and lease amendments for multiple movie theater tenants required to close due to COVID restrictions
• Represented automobile dealer in restructuring floor plan financing and contributed equity capital for auto franchisee that enabled the extension of dealership franchise agreements and operating rights
• Represented bank in resolution of five co-pending foreclosure, collection and lender liability cases securing dismissal of the lender liability cases and satisfaction of the principal debt

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