Restructuring

What happens when a company cannot pay: Chapter 11, the waterfall, and who ends up owning it.

1
Restructuring basics
What happens when a company cannot pay its debts. Out-of-court deals versus Chapter 11, the absolute priority waterfall, recovery rates, and why the fulcrum security ends up owning the reorganized business.
5 min readAI AssistantPreview
2
Why companies get into troubleUpdated
Stressed, distressed and bankrupt, what pushes a company from one to the next, the triggers that bring restructuring bankers in, and how to read liquidity runway and a bond price for signs of trouble.
7 min readAI AssistantPreview
3
CovenantsUpdated
The rules lenders write into a loan. Maintenance versus incurrence tests, covenant-lite and the springing covenant, how to measure headroom, what happens on a breach, and how an equity cure works.
8 min readAI AssistantPreview
4
Recovery waterfalls in practiceUpdated
Running a waterfall the way an interviewer will test it: what value is actually distributed, what comes off the top, how accrued and PIK interest change the claims, deficiency claims, pari passu sharing, and finding the fulcrum.
7 min readAI AssistantPreview
5
Liquidity and the 13-week cash flowUpdated
The model every distressed company lives by: what a 13-week cash flow is, how it is laid out, how a borrowing base shrinks just when it is needed, the levers that buy time, and how the forecast becomes the DIP budget in Chapter 11.
6 min readAI AssistantPreview
6
Inside a Chapter 11Updated
How a Chapter 11 case actually runs: the automatic stay, the debtor in possession and first-day motions, 363 sales and stalking horses, how a plan is voted on and confirmed, cram-down, and prepackaged versus pre-negotiated cases.
7 min readAI AssistantPreview
7
Valuing a distressed companyUpdated
Why valuation decides who owns a restructured company, why senior and junior creditors argue for different values, how comps, precedents and the DCF are adjusted for distress, and how a liquidation analysis sets the floor.
6 min readAI AssistantPreview
8
Liability managementUpdated
How companies restructure out of court by pitting creditors against each other: uptiers, drop-downs and double-dips, the worked numbers that show who wins and loses, how the courts have responded, and why lenders now sign co-operation agreements. Current as of October 2026.
7 min readAI AssistantPreview
9
How creditors get paidUpdated
What creditors actually receive when a restructuring ends: cash, take-back debt and new equity, how a recovery is measured, rights offerings and backstops, warrants for classes out of the money, management's slice of the equity, and convenience classes for small claims.
6 min readAI AssistantPreview