CHAPTER 14 EXIT STRATEGIES FOR THE FINANCIALLY DISTRESSED COMPANY

• Jurisdiction: United States

Financial Distress in the Oil & Gas Industry
(Feb 2010)
CHAPTER 14
EXIT STRATEGIES FOR THE FINANCIALLY DISTRESSED COMPANY
Deborah D. Williamson
Cox Smith
San Antonio, Texas
Albert Conly
FTI Consulting
Dallas, Texas

Deborah D. Williamson is head of the Creditors' Rights, Corporate Restructuring and Bankruptcy department at Cox Smith. She is a bankruptcy attorney recognized worldwide for her knowledge of bankruptcy and creditors' rights issues. Based in San Antonio, she travels frequently around the state, nation and world to address colleagues and counsel clients on bankruptcy issues and trends. She is regularly called on by companies in a broad range of industries, including commercial banks, institutional lenders, service providers, commercial landlords, governmental units and individuals, for her bankruptcy experience. Deborah was recently featured in Texas Lawyer's Go-To Guide as one of five lawyers in the bankruptcy category (published only every five years). Named a leader in her field by Chambers USA since 2003, Deborah was selected for inclusion by Law and Politics magazine as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Texas (regardless of practice) in 2008. She has been selected for inclusion as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Texas and one of the Top 50 Lawyers in Central Texas by Law and Politics since the honor's inception and in The Best Lawyers in America® consecutively for more than a decade. Deborah is also a frequent speaker and author, and recently co-authored a book published by the American Bankruptcy Institute entitled "Bankruptcy Litigation Manual-What Civil Litigators Need to Know."

Albert S. Conly is a senior managing director in FTI's Corporate Finance practice and is based in Dallas. Mr. Conly has 30 years of extensive restructuring, corporate finance and asset management experience in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, energy, refining, financial services, retail, real estate, telecommunications and broadcasting. He has a proven track record of leading client focused teams in solving complex business problems related to mergers, acquisitions, business integration, capital raising, capital structure, operational improvements, dispositions and investment decisions. During his tenure, Mr. Conly has represented a wide variety of clientele with corporate finance, business recovery, lender services, investigative and litigation advisory services needs. His assignments include large and complex transactions with several constituencies and competing agendas. Examples of representative engagements include Reichmann Petroleum Corp.; Davis Petroleum Corp; Entergy New Orleans; Enron Corporation; Panaco, Inc.; Vartec Telecom; Williams Communications Inc.; Sphinx Funds; Encompass Services; Pillowtex; American Plumbing; a large oil and gas operator; Fortune 25 energy company; and Fortune 50 energy company. Prior to joining FTI, Mr. Conly was a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and a managing director in the corporate and investment bank of Bank of America, where he managed the bank's exposure to financial institutions, including banks, mortgage companies, finance companies, broker/dealers, money managers and leasing companies. His experience includes eight years of corporate finance and restructuring experience with Bank of America and its predecessors, seven years of energy industry experience, and five years of regulatory and compliance experience with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. While with Bank of America, Mr. Conly was responsible for the management and disposition of approximately $1.2 billion of owned oil and gas properties obtained through foreclosure or settlement with borrowers. Additionally he served in various industry capacities, including as joint venture and revenue accountant with Texas Eastern Corporation and National Exploration Company, director of finance with Traco Petroleum Corporation and controller with Petroleum Acquisitions Corporation. Mr. Conly has served on numerous panels and spoke about a variety of corporate finance and...