Distressed Assets & Workouts

Overview

We advise borrowers, investors, lenders, and others who are currently dealing with or contemplating loan workouts and/or recapitalizations, as well as clients who may be interested in acquiring or investing in distressed assets or loans encumbering such assets. In addition, we assist clients with restructuring their companies by acquiring target businesses (or the assets of those businesses), divesting underperforming assets or business units, and/or financial restructuring.

The team is comprised of attorneys in our Commercial Real Estate, Commercial Lending, Bankruptcy, Corporate, Litigation, Tax, and Environmental practices who bring significant depth of experience to bear on the issues that must be addressed with respect to any threatened real estate or business asset. We have substantial experience in dealing with workouts and other issues with troubled assets and have a long track record of reaching the desired results for our clients.

There are times when situations need to be resolved with an outside authority or dispute resolution mechanism. Our Bankruptcy and Litigation practices have extensive experience handling matters, both locally and nationally, in the bankruptcy courts and through mediation, arbitration, and litigation.

With over 60 years of experience representing our clients throughout the United States, whether an entrepreneurial mid-sized business, a Fortune 500 company, a major institutional lender, a REIT, a commercial real estate developer, or a foreign investor, we know how to evaluate the options and achieve success for our clients.

Examples of clients we frequently work with include:

  • Developers
  • Retail
  • Office
  • Residential
  • Mixed-Use
  • Multi-Family
  • Public-Private Partnerships
  • Lenders
  • Construction
  • Permanent
  • Mezzanine
  • Venture Capital
  • Investors
  • Purchasers & Sellers of Property
  • Purchasers & Sellers of Debt
  • Debtors & Creditors in Bankruptcy Matters

Experience

  • Represented a borrower with the negotiation of a forbearance agreement on a construction loan for a condominium project.
  • Represented a purchaser of distressed property through loan assumption and workout of existing senior debt.
  • Represented a subordinate lender to assess its rights and remedies in connection with a senior loan default on a mixed-income rental housing project.
  • Represented a subordinate lender in connection with foreclosure by a senior lender and bankruptcy of the borrower.
  • Represented a LIHTC investor to evaluate alternatives in connection with a distressed affordable multifamily housing project.
  • Represented a mezzanine lender/investor with the restructuring of the loan to equity investment and modification of senior debt.
  • Represented a borrower/owner of a nonperforming multifamily rental project with an analysis of issues for workout with lenders and investor.
  • Represented subordinate lender in workout negotiations with senior noteholders regarding receivership, foreclosure, and bankruptcy issues.
  • Represented an investor in distressed proposed hotel development with the sale of the investor’s interest.
  • Served as counsel for an institutional limited partner in distressed residential mortgage opportunity fund investment.
  • Represented regional owner of 2.5 million square foot portfolio of flex and mid-rise office properties, including acquisition, sale, leasing, finance, and recapitalization transactions.
  • Represented Branch Banking & Trust Company in commercial foreclosures throughout Georgia, including foreclosure of retail centers, office buildings, residential subdivisions, and raw land, and in successful judicial confirmations of foreclosure sales.
  • Represented Regions Bank in the commercial foreclosure of an office building in Fulton County.
  • Represented SunTrust Bank in commercial foreclosures, including foreclosures of retail centers, office condominiums, and residential subdivisions.
  • Representing a national bank in workouts and restructuring of numerous non-performing real estate loans, including the workout of defaulted loans to several single-family home developers affecting more than 1,000 homes and developed lots.
  • Represented CMBS trusts in connection with hundreds of loan assumptions, collateral releases, and transfer of interest transactions.
  • Representing owners and investors in connection with the syndication, financing, acquisition, leasing, and disposition of neighborhood shopping centers. Clients include Equinox Group, Stafford Development Company, Alterman Properties, Goddard Development Company, and Trammell Crow Company.
  • Represented borrowers and guarantors in connection with a loan workout and modification of an $18.8 million loan secured by three office buildings.
  • Represented five limited liability companies and related individual guarantors in the restructuring and refinancing of several loans secured by five different properties, one of which was not income-producing, resulting in a reduction of loan amounts by discount, extended loan periods, and more favorable financing terms.
  • Represented owner/borrower in loan workout and conveyance of retail center by deed in lieu of foreclosure.
  • Represented CertusBank in loan workouts and commercial foreclosures, including foreclosures of office buildings and raw land.
  • Represented Hamilton State Bank in loan workouts and commercial foreclosures of hotel properties and raw land.
  • Represented an Illinois bank in loan workouts and commercial foreclosures of hotel properties in Georgia.
  • Represented venture fund in loan workouts and commercial foreclosures of hotel properties in Georgia.

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