England & Company provides a full suite of investment banking advice to companies, boards, shareholders, creditors, and other stakeholders who are dealing with situations that are complex and find themselves in some level of financial stress or distress. We strive to structure consensual deals that are in the best interests of our clients and have the experience to optimize the negotiation for our clients. We have a strong track record not only for successfully negotiating transactions in complex situations but also working tirelessly to implement creative ideas which, when coupled with the right capital source, allowed our clients to achieve results that defied market expectations.
We deliver senior level attention and independent advice to assist our clients in addressing their problems in a challenging and time-sensitive environment. In nearly every assignment, we partner our restructuring professionals with our industry experts to provide the most comprehensive and relevant advice to our clients – merging the focused advice of a restructuring boutique with the industry and capital markets expertise found within much larger institutions. England & Company provides restructuring advisory services to issuers, creditors, and committees of financially distressed companies both inside and outside of formal bankruptcy proceedings.
Debtor / Issuer Advisory
We recognize that every situation is unique and conventional solutions are not always best suited for our clients. We assist debtors with fully exploring their options and selecting attributes of various strategic alternatives that can be packaged together into a single compelling solution.
These solutions may include:
- Renegotiating credit facilities / covenant waivers / amendments
- Exchange offers, consent solicitations, and other liability management strategies
- Raising capital (bank and 2nd lien facilities, rescue financings,
private equity, and strategic investments) - Divestitures of non-core assets
- Out-of-court restructurings
- Pre-packaged bankruptcies
- Chapter 11 reorganizations
- DIP and exit financings
- Asset sales, in a Section 363 or foreclosure context, and other “stressed” sales transactions
- Fairness and solvency opinions
- Provide in-court and other testimony as required on behalf of our clients in Chapter 11 or other legal proceedings requiring such testimony
Creditor Advisory
Our objective is to help creditors maximize their returns from distressed corporate situations and to work with other constituents to achieve that return in a timely manner. When working with committees, we understand that creditors may value the form of consideration and other terms of a restructuring proposal differently, and we work with our clients to optimize returns based on their desired outcome.
- Assessment of restructuring alternatives
- Liability management inquiries
- Credit-bid & foreclosure strategies
- Detailed business plan review
- Cash conservation analysis
- Short-term cash flow projection review
Ara Partners Acquires Genera, Inc.
June 2022 – England Securities served as acquisition & restructuring advisor to Ara Partners (“Ara”), in its acquisition of Genera, Inc (“Genera”).
Ara is a private equity firm specializing in industrial decarbonization investments. Ara invests in the industrial & manufacturing, chemicals & materials, energy efficiency & green fuels, and food & agriculture sectors, seeking to build businesses that are focused on sustainability and ESG principles.
“Genera was a complicated transaction that required the England & Company team, working closely with Ara Partners and other advisors, to create a mutually beneficial acquisition and restructuring,” said Troy Thacker, Managing Partner of Ara. “It’s a tremendous benefit to work with a trusted, capable partner on complicated situations that require out-of-the-box creative structuring.”
Genera’s facility, once fully operational, will process agricultural crops such as switchgrass into ag-based fiber and the Earthable® line of sustainable food-grade, compostable packaging. The facility, which is the largest fully integrated domestic solution for ag-based fiber and food packaging in North America, will host 160 employees at full production.
Kestrel Financial Advisor in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
June 2013 – England Securities acted as the exclusive investment banker to Kestrel Technologies, Inc. (“Kestrel”) in the sale of substantially all of its assets to BondHawk Systems, LLC (“BondHawk”). This sale was effectuated through a Chapter 11 Section 363 process.
Kestrel, a leading provider of software solutions for fixed income trading, portfolio management, and market connectivity, filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in December 2012. England was retained as Kestrel’s investment banker and financial advisor for the purpose of arranging DIP financing and soliciting offers to acquire Kestrel’s assets. The sale was approved by the Bankruptcy Court in May 2013 and closed in June 2013.
Kestrel’s software is a comprehensive fixed income trading and risk management system that is applicable to both sell-side and buy-side institutions, providing sophisticated, real-time fixed income pricing, order management, execution management, and risk management functionality for bulge-bracket and regional dealers, hedge funds, and traditional asset managers. Over the last fifteen years, many of the world’s largest securities firms used Kestrel’s products, including UBS Securities, ABN Amro, Mizuho Securities, NatWest Securities, Seix Investment Advisors (SunTrust) and Standish Mellon Asset Management. Kestrel’s largest institutional owners included First Union Capital Partners, Jefferies & Company, and Thomson Ventures.
BondHawk provides software solutions and services for the fixed income marketspace, including trading, portfolio management and market connectivity. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, BondHawk is a privately held company led by the former President of SunGard Futures Systems.
Birdsall Financial Advisor to Trustee in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Birdsall filed Chapter 11 in March 2013 after it was indicted for campaign finance law violations and the Attorney General for the State of New Jersey sought an order to seize the company’s assets. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the appointment of Edwin H. Stier, a former state and federal prosecutor, as Chapter 11 Trustee to manage the affairs of the business during the bankruptcy sale process. England served as advisor and investment banker to the Chapter 11 Trustee and managed the sale of Birdsall’s assets.
Blackwood Financial Advisor to Creditos’Committee in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy