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Q: Need examples of successful restructurings in Chapter 11 ( Answered 4 out of 5 stars,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Need examples of successful restructurings in Chapter 11
Category: Business and Money > Finance
Asked by: jaustin-ga
List Price: $40.00
Posted: 03 Mar 2005 13:09 PST
Expires: 02 Apr 2005 13:09 PST
Question ID: 484211
I need 5 examples of U.S. companies that have filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection and emerged to become very successful and well
respected.  An example (and thus not eligible for inclusion in the
answer) is Continental Airlines which filed for bankruptcy three times
in the 1990s and after the third became well regarded by customers,
analysts and businesspeople.

Criteria for inclusion in the answer:

- Company must have had more than $1 billion in annual revenue at the
time of filing.
- Filing must have happened within the last 15 years
- Companies can be either public or private at the time of filing

Elements required in the answer:

- Name of the company
- Date of Chapter 11 filing
- Date of emergence from Chapter 11
- Brief (at least 3-4 sentences, more if appropriate) description of
company, circumstances for filing, activities undertaken to
restructure the company, results since restructuring.
- Quantitative or qualitative measurements of post Chap 11-success (i.e.
sustained profitability, inclusion on lists such as Forture "Most
Admired", "Best Places to Work," etc.)

Results must be received no later than 5:00 pm (US Central) on Sunday,
March 6, 2005 to be acceptable; there is a hard deadline for this
information and material received after that deadline is valueless
in this instance.

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 03 Mar 2005 15:36 PST
Hello jaustin-ga,

A question, please.  

When you say you'd like the date that a company filed for or emerged
from Chapter 11, how specific do you need that to be.

For instance, if an article says that "Company XYZ filed for Chapter
11 in 2002", is that adequate?  If not, how much precision is needed?

Let me know.

pafalafa-ga

Clarification of Question by jaustin-ga on 03 Mar 2005 15:55 PST
Pafalafa -

Thanks for the fast response. I can live with a certain amount of
imprecision - December, 2002 is acceptable, for example.  I would not
want to get more vague than that, however.

Does that help?

Jon Austin

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 03 Mar 2005 16:49 PST
Hey Jon, 

Thanks for the feedback...that helps.

I want to run a company profile by you to see if this is the sort of
thing you need.  How does this look...?

=====

Worldcom/MCI

Worldcom entered Chapter 11 in July 2002

Emerged as MCI in April 2004.



http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0426mci.html
Network World, 
04/26/04

MCI shakes off Chapter 11 mantle
...MCI (MCIAV) emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week
with a mere $6 billion in debt, 27,000 fewer employees and cash in the
bank.



http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/03/technology/qwest_mci.reut/
MCI-Qwest deal coming?
February 3, 2005

...MCI Inc. has received a $6.3 billion takeover bid from Qwest
Communications International Inc. and has held talks with another
potential suitor, Verizon Communications Inc., people familiar with
the situation said

...Although MCI, which emerged from bankruptcy last year, has been
looking for a buyer for months, interest in the company intensified
after long-distance rival AT&T Corp. (Research) last week agreed to be
acquired by SBC Communications Inc. (Research) for $16 billion

=====


Two questions:

(1) I'm using news article excerpts -- like the MCI takeover bids --
to show that the company is now well-regarded.  Is this adequate to
your needs?

(2) I can certainly focus my efforts on the largest companies that
have come back from the brink (Worldcom was worth $103 billion before
it tanked!).  However, teasing out the annual revenue data to document
that it was over a billion is tougher than it may sound.  Is this
really needed?


I await your reply.

paf

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 03 Mar 2005 17:56 PST
The CNN link didn't post properly.  It should be:


http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/03/technology/qwest_mci.reut/

Clarification of Question by jaustin-ga on 03 Mar 2005 19:44 PST
Paf -

The size of the company is flexible - as long they're a recognizable,
household name I can probably work with it.

Specifically regarding Worldcom/MCI, I don't think a consensus has
formed that it has in fact been a success.  The CNN piece, in fact,
suggests that it's been trying to sell itself for some time, not the
behavior of most successful companies.

To give you a little more context, I'm working with a company that may
have to enter Ch. 11 and they believe - as do I - that providing
employees and other stakeholders with examples of positive outcomes
from the process can give them some reassurance.  Thus, these examples
have to be recognizable and generally perceived as successful.

Does that help?

Austin

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 03 Mar 2005 19:48 PST
Yep.  That helps a great deal.

I'll be looking into some bankruptcy histories to try and get you the
companies you're looking for.  It's too late today to make much
headway, but I'll do some work on this tomorrow and -- at the very
least -- give you a status report during the day.

Cheers,

paf

Clarification of Question by jaustin-ga on 03 Mar 2005 22:04 PST
Paf -

Thank you very much for working on this.

Austin

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 04 Mar 2005 16:17 PST
Another question for you, if I may.

Among the companies that are often cited as having emerged from
Chapter 11 are Texaco, Continental Airlines, Southland Company
(7-Eleven), Macy's and Toys-R-Us.

Are there any on this list that you would like me to definitely pursue
or definitely avoid?

Let me know...I should have more info for you tomorrow.

paf

Clarification of Question by jaustin-ga on 05 Mar 2005 10:20 PST
Paf -

Sorry for being out of touch.  

None of those companies (except Continental since I already identified
it as my example) are immediately unacceptable.  If they have become
successful post-Chapter 11, they're fine.

Thank you.

Austin

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 05 Mar 2005 15:32 PST
Jon,


Oy vey!


Unraveling corporate histories and banruptcies and finances has turned
out to be such a convoluted mess, that I am going to offer up the
information I have as a Request for Clarification (rather than as an
answer).  This way, you'll have the chance to let me know if this
meets your needs (in which case, I'll post it as an answer) or if
there is other information that would better suit your purpose.

Not all of the companies below meet your strict criteria, but I think
they meet the overall spirit -- that is, they're pretty well known,
and considered successful.

Let me know what you think.


pafalafa-ga



==========


Southland Corp/ 7-eleven


Filed Chapter 11: October 1990
Emerged: not clear...too many discrete steps

At the time of its filing, Southland was the largest convenience store
chain in the world, largely under the name 7-11, with $8 billion/year
in revenues.  In the years after its restructuring, it has regained
it's status as one of the most well-known convenience store operations
in the US, and is consistently on the Top 10 list of franchise
opportunities.  Southland changed its name to 7-11 in 1999, and now
has more than $10 billion a year in reveues.


==========


Marvel Entertainment Group

Filed Chapter 11 November 1997

Re-emerged via acquisition in 1998 as Marvel Enterprises.  

Marvel is now associated with some of the biggest big-screen comicbook
blockbusters in history, including Spiderman and X-Men.




==========

Trump Taj Mahal

Filed for Chapter 11 July 1991

Reorganization effective December 1991


The Donald's star is rising with the runaway success of "The
Apprentice" and with it, his properties take on additional prestige,
even as some of his properties and ventures continue to undergo
restructuring through bankruptcy proceedings.


==========


Toys R Us

Filed 1974

Re-merged 1978

Originally known as Children's Supermarket and owned by Interstate
Stores, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1974, and then
re-emerged as Toys R Us in 1978, to grow into the country's largest
toy retailer (until very recently, when Wal-Mart topped them).



=========
 


Greyhound


June 1990 Chap 11

October 1991  Emerged 

Greyound -- a billion dollar company -- is the only US bus company
with a regular nationwide intercity schedule. Greyhound carries about
25 million passengers yearly to more than 3,400 destinations
throughout the US. Greyhound also provides service into Canada and
Mexico.



==========

Days Inn


Days Inn filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition in Wilmington on
September 27, 1991

Just a few days later, on September 30, 1991, Days Inn announced that
an agreement had been reached with an affiliate of the Blackstone
Group, L.P. to acquire the Days Inns franchise system.


The hotel chain is one of the best known names in the business, with
1900 hotels in 12 countries.



=========



Federated Department Stores 


Filed Chapter 11 January 1990

Emergence date not clear



Prior to bankruptcy, Federated operated 5 retail department stores
chains including; Bloomingdale's, Abraham & Strauss, Burdine's,
Lazarus and Rich's
with 132 stores in 20 states.  It later acquired another Chapter 11
store -- perhaps the most well-known name of all -- Macy's.






Macy's



Filed Chapter 11 February 1992

Emerged December 1994


What can you say...it's Macy's!



==========



Please let me know your thoughts about these various Chapter 11 stories.


pafalafa-ga

Clarification of Question by jaustin-ga on 05 Mar 2005 16:30 PST
Paf -

I think you've got two - 7-Eleven and Federated will work for my purposes. 

I don't know if you want to keep working on this, but if you don't I'd
be happy to make a partial payment for the work so far - 2 out 5 or 40
percent of the original amount.  Having said that, I have no idea how
to do that.

Thank you for working on this.

Austin

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 05 Mar 2005 16:39 PST
Thanks for the feedback.

Can you tell me a bit more about why 7-11 and Federated worked for
you, and the others did not?

The better I understand what works, the better the odds I can find some others.

Let me know.

paf

Clarification of Question by jaustin-ga on 05 Mar 2005 20:24 PST
Paf -

7-Eleven and Federated have both become successful - their stock
prices have grown strongly over the last several years, 7-Eleven
reported record profits, Federated ranks well on the Fortune list of
Most Admired Companies, Federated just acquired May.

By contrast the others do not seem to as successful or they went
through the process very quickly.

Does that help?

Austin

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 06 Mar 2005 08:32 PST
Jon,

Sorry, but I haven't had much success in finding other examples that
look like they would work for you.

I would have like to have been able to provide you with a complete
answer, but it looks like its not to be this time around.

All the best with the work that you're doing,

paf

Clarification of Question by jaustin-ga on 06 Mar 2005 20:11 PST
Paf -

I appreciate your hard work on this and - as I said - I'm happy to pay
for the partial results.  Is there any way to do that.  Perhaps if an
administrator is monitoring this board (or if you know how to get
their attention), perhaps we can arrange something.

Thank you.

Austin

Clarification of Question by jaustin-ga on 07 Mar 2005 20:49 PST
Paf -

If you're still out there, I found a way to make a payment for a
partial answer (you can change the price you'll pay for the answer. 
Thus, if you submit something as the final answer, we can do this.

Again, thanks for your work on this.  You might be interested to know
that the other resource I tapped for this question came up with a list
that included Federated but not Southland/7-Eleven.  Their other finds
were Denny's and Vencor (nursing home company).

All the best.

Austin
Answer  
Subject: Re: Need examples of successful restructurings in Chapter 11
Answered By: pafalafa-ga on 09 Mar 2005 06:36 PST
Rated:4 out of 5 stars
 
Austin,

Thanks very much for your willingness to accept part of an answer (and
for figuring out how to re-price your question).  It's all much
appreciated.

I learned a lot about finding bankruptcy information in the course of
researching this question, so if you find you need any additional
information down the road...you know where to find me.

Thanks again,

paf
jaustin-ga rated this answer:4 out of 5 stars
Great effort, excellent feedback, partial success.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Need examples of successful restructurings in Chapter 11
From: theapprentice-ga on 09 Mar 2005 06:09 PST
 
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