In a significant victory for client Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, a team of Shearman & Sterling lawyers successfully defeated an approximately $400 million fraudulent conveyance claim asserted against Fairfax in conjunction with proceedings relating to the confirmation of the Plan of Reorganization of AbitibiBowater Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Debtors”). After a contentious multi-week trial in Wilmington, Chief Bankruptcy Judge Kevin J. Carey confirmed the Debtors’ Plan and overruled all of the objections relating to the fraudulent conveyance claim. The Court’s opinion was predicated largely on the arguments advanced by the Shearman & Sterling team.
Shearman & Sterling has represented Fairfax in a variety of other capacities in the Debtors’ chapter 11 cases, including as (i) pre-petition secured lender, (ii) pre-petition unsecured bondholder, (iii) administrative agent, collateral agent, and lender under the Debtors’ $206 million secured DIP financing facility, (iv) backstop investor in connection with the Debtors’ rights offering of up to $500 million of new convertible notes under the Plan, and (v) Plan support party under a Plan Support Agreement negotiated by the firm.
The Shearman & Sterling team with respect to the Chapter 11 cases included partners Douglas Bartner (New York-Bankruptcy & Reorganization), Bruce Czachor (New York-Capital Markets), Lisa Jacobs (New York-Capital Markets), Constance Fratianni (New York-Finance), and William Roll III (New York-Litigation); counsel Edmund Emrich (New York-Bankruptcy & Reorganization) and Jeffrey Salinger (New York-Property/Environmental); and associates Kerri Silver (New York-Bankruptcy & Reorganization), Quentin Wiest (New York-Bankruptcy & Reorganization), Erica Tso (New York-Capital Markets), Seth Kerschner (New York-Property/Environmental), Kevin Boon (New York-Finance), Paige Berges (New York-Litigation), Robert Bosslet III (New York-Litigation), Christopher Halfnight (New York-Litigation), Inyoung (Sarah) Hwang (New York-Litigation) and Eileen O’Pray (Menlo Park-Tax).
