Schulte Roth & Zabel Announces 2nd Annual Distressed Investing Conference

SRZ is pleased to announce the 2nd Annual Distressed Investing Conference to be held on Thursday, November 21 in New York. Gathering industry leaders in distressed investing and distressed M&A, the conference will cover current developments in Europe, municipalities facing debt crises and the complicated relationship between private equity sponsors and organized labor. The event is invitation only.

Headlining the conference are SRZ partners who are leading lawyers in the distressed investing space. In addition, guest speakers will represent all areas of distressed investing including fund managers, investment bankers, restructuring consultants and a former union head, among others.

As part of the conference, SRZ’s 2013 Distressed Investing M&A report, produced in association with Mergermarket and Debtwire, will be released. SRZ M&A partner David E. Rosewater will present the study, which is based on the findings of a recent survey of investment bankers, private equity practitioners and hedge fund investors, in the U.S. and Europe. The complete report will be released on the day of the conference and available on SRZ’s website.

SRZ partner Adam C. Harris, head of the business reorganization group and a member of the firm’s executive committee, commented, “We are very excited about this year’s conference. Building on the success from last year, we expect more than 300 attendees representing a broad cross section of the distressed investing community. The agenda topics are timely and of significant interest to our clients, and the speakers are highly experienced and well versed on the subject matters.”

For the conference, Mr. Harris will provide introductory remarks and moderate the panel “Private Equity Sponsors and Organized Labor: Friends or Foes?” which will also feature SRZ partner Ronald E. Richman, co-head of the employment & employee benefits group and a member of the firm’s executive committee.

SRZ M&A partner Stuart D. Freedman will moderate the panel on “Investing in Distressed Municipal Debt.” The panel will focus on the key issues that investors should consider in investing in distressed municipals, using Detroit and Puerto Rico as examples. “While Detroit is an extreme case, the factors that led to its Chapter 9 filing — underfunded pension plans, surging health care costs for an aging or retired work force, the funding of cash flow shortfalls through debt are prevalent in state and local governments and more municipal restructurings are inevitable,” said Mr. Freedman.

Representing SRZ’s growing London practice, business reorganization partners Peter J.M. Declercq, Sonya Van de Graaff and David J. Karp will lead a discussion on “Distressed Opportunities in Europe.” SRZ’s distressed investing group in the firm’s U.K. office focuses on cross border insolvencies, European restructurings, distressed M&A transactions and debt trading.

“As a preeminent law firm for alternative investment managers in the U.S. and U.K., Schulte Roth & Zabel attorneys offer the highest level of representation and advice in all manners of large and complex distressed situations. Our annual Distressed Investing Conference provides an excellent opportunity for our team to share and gather knowledge on emerging markets worldwide,” commented Alan S. Waldenberg, chair of the firm’s executive committee and chair of the tax group, who regularly represents clients in M&A deals, restructurings and workouts, in the U.S., Europe and Asia.