In-depth data gathered from Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s annual survey indicates that the U.S. economy may be on the verge of a breakthrough. If these projections for revenue and employment growth are on track, it could be the best year for business since 2007.
Regular ABF Journal contributor Lisa A. Miller spoke with five ABL leaders to get the pulse of the ABL outlook for 2015. With an unexpected economic stallout in Q1/14, and the ongoing forces of excess liquidity, tight margins and heavy competition continuing to labor the market, new money opportunities can be challenging. However, optimism abounds as loan growth accelerates, and recent data revealed the banking sector experienced the highest rate of loan growth in 2014 since the economic downturn.
A lack of business credit may be contributing to the Eurozone’s sluggish economic recovery. FGI President/CEO David DiPiero considers whether asset-based lending could be a catalyst for sparking market growth in Europe, outlining key hurdles and how the landscape is evolving.
Phoenix Management Services was recently called upon to be an independent expert in evaluating the feasibility of the City of Detroit’s restructuring plan. Senior managing directors Brian Gleason and Martha E. M. Kopacz discuss feasibility in Chapter 9 cases, departures from Chapter 11 and obstacles in interpretation prior to the City of Detroit bankruptcy.
Howard Brod Brownstein recaps highlights from the Eighth Annual Education and Networking Conference, where bankruptcy court judges, asset-based lenders and attorneys gathered for a day to test their knowledge about the industry, and trade insights on trends and issues in the turnaround, lending and bankruptcy court worlds.
Whether or not to accept gift cards during a liquidation should be decided on a case by case basis. But the blanket refusal to redeem gift cards during GOB sales is becoming more a thing of the past. Michael McGrail, COO of Tiger Capital Group, talks about the advantages and disadvantages of redemption to creditors. Whatever the decision, he says potential impacts to GOB sales should be factored into the overall liquidation strategy.
As oil prices have dropped nearly 60% from their 2014 highs, and natural gas prices remain low, U.S. E&P companies are faced with increasing challenges. AlixPartners’ Becky Roof, Rob Albergotti and Michael Chiock share feedback from clients in the industry on how the evolving market may impact creditors and lenders in the space.
With so many options for borrowers in today’s alternative and specialty lending environments, lenders need to develop a niche and be open to partnering with other financial partners to land new business in the competitive environment. Darren Palestine, director of sales and marketing director at Crossroads Financial, discusses creative solutions in the marketplace and how Crossroads recently worked with a factor to fund a unique deal, taking out the bank position in the process.
Determining secured lender cramdown interest rates in Chapter 11 cases has been widely debated, and recent court rulings have proven to be inconclusive. Kaye Scholer Attorneys Madlyn Gleich Primoff and Holly Martin discuss the controversial issue, highlighting the ABI Commission’s recent recommendations that endorse a more favorable approach for secured lenders.
ABF Journal illustrator Jerry Gonzalez provides his take on GE announcing it would create a simpler, more valuable company by reducing the size of its financial businesses through the sale of most GE Capital assets and by focusing on continued investment and growth in its world-class industrial businesses.