Daniel B. Besikof

Selected Debtor and Estate Engagements:

• Counsel for Adara Enterprises Corp., an asset management firm focusing on quantitative trading, in its chapter 11 in case in the District of Delaware.  Negotiated and obtained confirmation of the company’s prepackaged chapter 11 plan, which equitized the company’s senior lender and preferred equity holder, paid all other creditors in full and resulted in millions of dollars of recovery to the holders of the company’s common stock.
• Counsel for GEE Group, Inc., a publicly-traded provider of specialized staffing solutions, in its successful out-of-court restructuring. The transaction eliminated more than $47 million in subordinated debt and mezzanine preferred stock financing from the company’s balance sheet.
• Counsel for Sarar USA, a retailer of high-end men’s apparel, in a chapter 11 proceeding designed to right-size its 17-store brick and mortar footprint. Successfully negotiated and obtained confirmation of consensual chapter 11 plan, which enabled the company to emerge from bankruptcy with a leaner footprint and a stronger balance sheet.
• Counsel to C&J Energy Services, a leading provider of well construction, well completion, well support and other oilfield services in its chapter 11 cases. The plan, which was confirmed in just six months, discharged $1.4 billion in prepetition debt. Postconfirmation, acted as lead counsel on successful claim resolution process involving approximately 5,000 claims, discharge enforcement efforts and other steps to position the company for post-emergence success.
• Counsel for Absolut Facilities Management, the operator of a chain of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in New York State, as debtors in their chapter 11 cases. Successfully advised the company through complex disputes involving the company’s multiple layers of secured indebtedness and landlords, to consummate a successful sale of the company’s assets as a going concern, saving the jobs of the company’s approximately 1,000 employees.
• Counsel for Memory Care of America, the operator of a chain of memory care assisted living communities designed specifically for people with Alzheimers’s disease and other forms of dementia in Texas, Arkansas, Florida, and South Carolina, as debtors in their chapter 11 cases. Successfully restructured key obligations of the company, which emerged from bankruptcy as a going concern in just approximately two months. 
• Counsel for XFire, Inc., a cutting edge video esports platform operator, in its chapter 11 case. Guided client through all aspects of the company’s reorganization, including negotiating a DIP credit facility, securing plan confirmation and defeating a post-confirmation attack on the plan from a disgruntled group of equity holders. The plan – which was confirmed in just approximately four months – successfully wiped away all of the company’s existing equity and recapitalized the company through a reissuance of new stock to its creditors. The plan also facilitated a consolidation with online gaming community Victorious Gaming and granted equity to Fuel Technologies, a global creative agency helping develop the gaming platform.
• Counsel for oil producer American Standard Energy in its successful chapter 11 case.
• Represented chapter 7 trustee in bankruptcy of General Fiber, Inc., the nation’s largest provider of cable fulfillment services and its affiliates. Negotiated for payment of substantial funds from the company’s equity sponsor and secured lender in exchange for what is perhaps the first (and only) non-consensual third party release in a chapter 7 case.

Selected Creditor and Other Engagements:

• Advised indenture trustees for billions of dollars of notes in Washington Mutual, Muzak, NTK Holdings (Nortek), Linens ‘n Things, Cengage Learning, Colt Holding Company, Horsehead Holding Corp., Haights Cross and others, typically in subordinated or structurally subordinated positions. Advised clients as members, chairs or co-chairs of the creditors’ committees in all or substantially all of these engagements.
• Represented affiliates of Canyon Capital as holder of senior secured debt and a majority of unsecured note debt in the Hooters Casino and Hotel chapter 11 case. Overcame effort by the company’s insiders to reorganize the company for their benefit, and instead achieved a sale process at which Canyon became the successful bidder and acquired the property. Defeated attempt by insiders, under a newly-enacted Nevada statute, to reduce the amount of the client’s claims to the amount paid for those claims in the secondary market (substantially less than par), thus creating favorable new law for distressed debt investors in Nevada.
• Represented institutional holders of senior and junior secured debt and administrative and collateral agents in the bankruptcy cases or bankruptcy-related litigation of Performance Transportation Services, MRU, Inc., Metro Fuel Oil Corp., New Jersey Motorsports, EnviroSolutions, Sigg Europe, Adelphia, Iridium World Communications, Loral Space & Communications, New World Pasta, US Liquids and Global Crossing, the chapter 11 cases of a New York based chain of clinics and rehabilitation centers and many others, covering a variety of industries, including real estate, music publishing, pharmaceuticals, religious corporations, construction, jewelry, aeronautics and commercial printing, in chapter 11 cases and out-of-court restructurings.
• Represented largest unsecured creditor in J. Crew’s chapter 11 cases. Contested confirmation of J. Crew’s chapter 11 plan.   
• Represented a pooled EB-5 lending vehicle (a New Commercial Enterprise) in connection with the out-of-court restructuring of over $500 million of debt on a high-profile casino project located in Las Vegas, believed to be the largest restructuring of EB-5 indebtedness to date.
• Representing an ad hoc group of foreign investors in connection with a failed project in Manhattan backed by EB-5 financing.
• Advise health plans in connection with health care provider and pharmaceutical company bankruptcy cases, including Verity Health, Downey Regional Hospital and Oscient Pharmaceuticals.  
• Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in All American Semiconductor’s chapter 11 cases.  At the time the cases were filed, unsecured creditors were projected to receive little to no recovery. Through Loeb’s efforts, unsecured creditors were paid in full, and equity received meaningful distributions.  
• Represent Big Four accounting firm and other professional services firms in in connection with retention issues, fee disputes, assertion of claims and defense of avoidance actions in connection with the bankruptcy cases of The Hertz Corporation, Beavex Inc., Impresa Inc., OneWeb Global Limited, GNC and many others.
• Represent commercial landlords in numerous chapter 11 cases, including Town Sports International; Le Pain Quotidien; BC Hospitality; It’Sugar; LSC Communications; American Apparel; Collective, Inc.; Knotel; SFP Franchise Corp. (Papyrus); Ascena Retail Group; Regus and others. 
• Represented trade creditors, administrative expense claimants and reclamation claimants in a variety of high-profile bankruptcy cases.
• Represented strategic buyer as the successful stalking horse bidder in connection with the acquisition through an expedited 363 sale of the assets of cosmetics company, Mallygirl, LLC. The sale transaction was recognized with the “Turnaround Atlas Award for Consumer Products & Services Restructuring of the Year.” 
• Represented numerous other asset purchasers, stalking horse bidders and buyers and sellers of distressed debt in bankruptcy claims, including in matters involving cross-border assets.

Bankruptcy and Commercial Litigation Engagements:

• Represented defendants in approximately a dozen adversary proceedings, facing approximately $100 million in potential fraudulent transfer exposure. Loeb led in litigating numerous important issues, including on appeal to the Second Circuit, and obtained an extremely favorable ruling from the Second Circuit expanding substantially the scope of the Section 546(e) securities “safe harbor,” which saved tens of millions of dollars for Loeb’s clients and their families and potentially billions of dollars for other defendants of the Madoff trustee’s claims. Loeb also assisted in defeating a petition for certiorari filed by Madoff trustee seeking to challenge that decision at the Supreme Court.
• Represented two affiliates of Canyon Partners in connection with $36 million fraudulent transfer action brought by trustee of fraudulent real estate company managed by fraudster Ezri Namvar. The trustee alleged that the Canyon entities — which had provided tens of millions of dollars of financing to Namco affiliates — received fraudulent transfers when Namco repaid those debt obligations of its affiliates, since Namco was not contractually obligated to Canyon for those debts. Litigated the fraudulent transfer action, including on solvency grounds, and ultimately achieved a favorable settlement on the eve of trial.
• Represented investor who discovered and exposed the Capitol Investments Ponzi scheme run by Mr. Shapiro in connection with a fraudulent transfer action commenced against him by the Capitol Investments bankruptcy trustee. Obtained favorable settlement after substantial litigation on eve of trial.
• Represented preference and fraudulent transfer defendants facing hundreds of millions of dollars of potential claims in dozens of cases.
• Represented financial institutions in connection with commercial foreclosure litigation and other creditors rights matters.
• Represented financial institutions in defense of lender liability actions.  
• Represented lenders in the negotiation and documentation of secured and unsecured credit facilities involving term loans, revolving lines of credit and letters of credit. Represented specialty lender in connection with negotiation and documentation of loans secured by works of art. Created form loan documents for use by a division of Citigroup in syndicated and single-lender asset based loans to single and multiple borrowers.