COVER STORY
Separating ‘Good’ Business from ‘Bad’ Business: AEG Partners’ Award-Winning Turnaround of Compressor Engineering - Compressor Engineering enjoyed two years of significant revenue as it expanded into new service areas. At the same time, the company started to experience lower profitability and tighter liquidity. Were these issues driven by the expansion or were there other more deeply rooted problems? The company called in AEG Partners, which discovered undetected problems that threatened the very existence of the business. AEG implemented a plan and resulted in a turnaround honored as TMA’s Chicago/Midwest Chapter’s 2016 Turnaround of the Year.
FEATURES
Global Container Shipping Industry: Choppy Seas Ahead - AlixPartners’ Esben Christensen and Foster Finley examine the health of the global container shipping industry in the wake of the Hanjin bankruptcy. The industry desperately needs a change in the wind, but with more bankruptcies and continued consolidation on the horizon, this seems unlikely.
Desperate Times Call for Effective Turnarounds - In an excerpt from their book, Transformation: Delivering and Sustaining Breakthrough Performance, Boston Consulting Group’s Lars Fæste, Jochen Schoenfelder, Christian Brub and Christoph Lay discuss the essential steps needed to create a transformational turnaround and restructuring effort.
The Rise of U.S. Style Pre-Insolvency Restructuring - As the U.S. system of restructuring and insolvency gains popularity in Australia and beyond, Carlyn Taylor, global co-leader of the Corporate Finance & Restructuring segment of FTI Consulting, provides her perspective on this growing trend in a Q&A that originally appeared in the FTI Journal.
Philadelphia Credit and Restructuring Summit: Energized by New Location, Women Exec Panel - The Philadelphia Credit and Restructuring Summit celebrated its 10th anniversary by moving to a new location and adding a panel of women executives to the lineup. Lenders, turnaround professionals and bankruptcy judges enjoyed a round of Judicial Jeopardy before discussing serious matters ranging from possible federal tariffs on foreign goods to the ramifications of the Supreme Court’s ruling on structured dismissals in bankruptcy.
New Turnaround Firm CR3 Partners Finds Turbulent Times Are Good for Business - William Snyder got into the turnaround business by taking his own companies through bankruptcy. The veteran restructuring pro just reunited with 19 former colleagues to form CR3 Partners, a restructuring firm concentrating on middle-market businesses in distress. The current political winds are good for business.
TURNAROUND CORNER
Turnaround Management: 2017 and Beyond - Economic uncertainty has traditionally been good for turnaround professionals. But the game has changed, and unregulated lenders can call a different tune. Howard Brod Brownstein looks into his crystal ball and predicts a mixed bag for turnaround pros under the new administration.
SPECIALTY LENDING
Credit Insurance: The Key to Larger, More Secure Borrowing Arrangements - Many lenders think of credit insurance as an added expense, but Global Commercial Credit’s Victor Sandy outlines the myriad ways borrowers can use it as a financial tool. He discusses the key benefits of the insurance and provides a sample cost benefit analysis.
LEGAL LINES
A ‘Trade is a Trade’: Why It Matters Here and in Markets Around the World - A recent case before the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that a “trade is a trade” if an informal agreement exists even though a formal document has not been signed. Martin Eisenberg represented Stonehill Capital Management in this case that has international ramifications and creates stability in the marketplace.
FINAL CUT
Sears’ Annual Report: Company Doubts It Can Continue - Once the largest retailer in the U.S., Sears’ annual report offered doubts that it will be able to continue as a going concern. ABF Journal illustrator Jerry Gonzalez depicts this news in FinalCut.