Jeffrey D. Saferstein

Jeff has been recognized by Chambers USA, The Legal 500, The Best Lawyers in America, Lawdragon and IFLR1000, among others. Most recently, he was named “Highly Regarded” for Restructuring and Insolvency in the U.S. by IFLR1000 (2022-2024), named among Lawdragon’s 500 Leading US Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers (2023-2024), and “recommended” for Restructuring by Legal 500 (2023-2024). He has written and lectured on numerous bankruptcy topics, including chapters in Settlement Agreements in Commercial Disputes (“Bankruptcy Law and Risk Considerations”) and The Law and Practice of Restructuring in the UK and US (“Venue and Forum Selection in the US and UK”). He has also co-written numerous articles, including “Get Your Priorities Straight” (International Financial Law Review), “When Second Lien Lenders Break Their Silence” (New York Law Journal) and “Equitable Subordination: Good-Faith Transferees Beware” (American Bankruptcy Institute Journal). Jeff has also spoken on panels and participated in conferences sponsored by a variety of organizations including the Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors, Bloomberg, the Wharton School and the New York City Bar Association.

Representative Experience

Debtor/Company-side Experience:

• Mobileum, Inc., a leading global provider of telecom analytics and network solutions, in its prepackaged chapter 11 cases with approximately $628 million in debt obligations
• U.S. counsel to Petra Diamonds, an independent diamond mining group, in a restructuring of the company’s approximately $600 million in second lien notes through proceedings in the United Kingdom and the United States*
• Hexion, the world’s leading producer of thermosetting resins, and a leading producer of adhesive and structural resins and coatings, as special financing and securities counsel in the company’s chapter 11 cases*
• Verso Corporation, a leading North American producer of printing and specialty papers and pulps, and its affiliates as special counsel in financing matters in their chapter 11 cases*
• School Specialty, one of the largest suppliers of supplemental educational products, equipment and standard based curriculum, in all aspects of its chapter 11 case*
• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a leading textbook publisher, in the negotiation, filing and consummation of a prepackaged chapter 11 reorganization plan that eliminated approximately $3.1 billion in debt and $250 million in annual interest costs. The company emerged from chapter 11 in a mere 32 days*
• Buffets Restaurant Holdings, and its subsidiaries and affiliates, one of the largest national chains in the restaurant industry family dining segment, in negotiating and consummating their prearranged chapter 11 cases that resulted in the restructuring of $250 million of secured and unsecured debt*
• AbitibiBowater(now Resolute Forest Products), North America's largest forest products company, and its subsidiaries and affiliates, as lead U.S. counsel in their complex cross-border cases in the U.S. and Canada involving the restructuring of more than $8 billion of prepetition indebtedness and raising $1.5 billion in exit financing*
• Samsonite Company Stores in its successful prepackaged chapter 11 case, which was confirmed by the Delaware bankruptcy court in approximately two months*
• Loehmann’s, a leading clothing retailer in its chapter 11 case*
• The Penn Traffic Company, a leading U.S. food retailer and wholesaler, in its chapter 11 case*
• Glass Mountain, the owner of a 450-mile pipeline providing crude oil transportation and storage services, in a comprehensive out-of-court restructuring with its equity sponsor and secured lenders that resulted in a reduction of over $230 million in debt*
• McGraw Hill, a leading educational publisher, in a comprehensive out-of-court debt recapitalization that involved (a) the amendment of the terms and maturities of its existing term loans and revolving facility commitments and (b) the issuance of new secured notes. The new secured notes were issued for cash, exchanged for existing holding company loans or in exchange for existing unsecured notes, all on terms negotiated among the relevant parties*
• Pinnacle Agriculture Holdings, an agricultural retail and wholesale distribution business, in its out-of-court recapitalization and exchange offer transactions*
• Samsonite Corporation, a leading manufacturer of luggage and travel bags, in its worldwide out-of-court restructuring*
• Alpha Media Group, publisher of Maxim magazine, in its out-of-court restructuring*
• Thomas Nelson, the world’s largest publisher of Christian content, in its out-of-court restructuring*
• Atkins Nutritionals, manufacturer and distributor of weight management nutrition products in the U.S. and internationally, in its out-of-court restructuring*

Creditor/Equity/Acquirer Experience:

• An ad hoc group of secured noteholders in the chapter 11 cases of 99 Cents Only Stores, a discount retailer
• Digital Currency Group, Inc. in connection with the chapter 11 cases of its wholly-owned indirect subsidiary Genesis Global Capital, LLC and certain affiliates, a cryptocurrency trading, lending and borrowing platform with approximately $3.4 billion in debt; and Digital Currency Group, Inc. as the largest creditor in the BVI Liquidation Proceeding and chapter 15 case of Three Arrows Capital, Ltd. with approximately $3.5 billion in debt
• American International Group, Inc., as equity holder and largest unsecured creditor owed approximately $37.5 billion, in connection with the chapter 11 case of AIG Financial Products Corp.
• Prepetition secured lenders in chapter 11 cases of Clovis Oncology, Inc. and its affiliates, a biopharmaceutical company
• Co-counsel to Apollo Global Management, as DIP lender in the chapter 11 cases and contested confirmation process for Grupo Aeromexico, the flag carrier airline of Mexico*
• Apollo Global Management on behalf of certain funds and accounts it manages alongside Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Opportunities, as sponsor to Hertz Global Holdings, Inc.’s chapter 11 plan of reorganization*
• Apollo Global Management in a restructuring of its equity investment in CEC Entertainment, a leading provider of family dining and entertainment venues including Chuck E. Cheese, in its chapter 11 cases currently pending in the Southern District of Texas*
• TowerBrook Capital Partners in an out-of-court restructuring of more than $230 million of outstanding term loan debt of its portfolio company J.Jill, a nationally recognized women’s apparel brand*
• Chisholm Oil and Gas and Gastar Holdco as equity sponsors in the prearranged chapter 11 cases of Chisholm Oil and Gas Operating, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based oil and gas exploration and production company. The company’s plan provided for the partial equitization of the company’s funded debt obligations as well as a distribution of new common equity to the equity sponsors*
• The ad hoc group of second lien noteholders and equity sponsors in the prepackaged chapter 11 restructuring of Mood Media Corporation, a global provider of in-store audio, visual and other forms of media and marketing solutions, which was confirmed and became effective one day after the company filed for chapter 11 protection, setting a new record for the fastest chapter 11 case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas*
• Apollo Global Management in restructuring its investment in Jupiter Resources, a Canadian natural gas exploration and production company, pursuant to a plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act*
• Apollo Global Management as a secured noteholder and plan sponsor in the chapter 11 cases of Houston-based oil and gas exploration and production company EP Energy*
• An ad hoc committee of cross-holders holding approximately 45% of PetSmart’s secured and unsecured debt in challenging certain spin transactions. PetSmart is a national leader in pet food and supplies*
• HPS Investment Partners in all aspects of the chapter 11 cases of LBI Media, an American Spanish-language television network, and its affiliates, including in providing debtor-in-possession financing and exit financing*
• Caesars Entertainment Corporation (“CEC”) in the chapter 11 cases of its subsidiary, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (“CEOC”), and certain of CEOC’s wholly owned subsidiaries involving approximately $18 billion of secured and unsecured debt*
• Apollo Global Management in the restructuring of Claire's, one of the world's leading specialty retailers of fashionable jewelry and accessories for girls, teens, and young women, and certain of its affiliates, including in its chapter 11 cases*
• Apollo Capital Management, on behalf of certain funds and accounts it manages, in providing postpetition financing to Westinghouse Electric Company and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates*
• U.S. counsel to certain noteholders holding a majority of notes issued by Mood Media, a leading global provider of in-store media and marketing services with $650 million in funded debt obligations, in a comprehensive debt and equity restructuring through proceedings in Canada and the United States*
• An ad hoc group of prepetition and postpetition lenders of Charming Charlie, a leading specialty retailer focused on colorful fashion jewelry, handbags, apparel, gifts and beauty products, in the company’s restructuring through a prearranged chapter 11 case*
• Time Warner/Time Warner Cable in its $17.6 billion acquisition, together with Comcast, of chapter 11 debtor Adelphia. We also assisted with related transactions redeeming Comcast’s 21% stake in Time Warner Cable and swapping cable systems serving more than two million customers*

*Experience gained at previous firm