Giants such as Ford, Kraft Heinz and The Cheesecake Factory are grappling with the coronavirus hit on business. But for one group in the financial services industry—restructuring and bankruptcy advisers and lawyers—the emerging signs of pain for companies, both big and small, spell booming business
A McDonald’s in Brooklyn in 2019. Restructuring experts are finding themselves in demand during the coronavirus pandemic, anticipating that companies will not be able to make good on their commitments on time and may seek to negotiate new terms with lenders, vendors, employees and other parties. (Gabby Jones/The New York Times)
Freedom Mortgage, one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders, is looking for additional financing as millions of homeowners are expected to stop making mortgage payments. The Cheesecake Factory said this past week it wouldn’t be able to make rent payments on its leases because of lost business. And giant companies from Kraft Heinz to Ford have tapped billions of dollars in credit from banks in preparation for an uncertain future.
These are scary times for American companies as they grapple with the hit to their businesses from the shutdown of major parts of the economy from the coronavirus. But for one group in the financial services industry — restructuring and bankruptcy advisers and lawyers — the emerging signs of pain for companies, both big and small, spell booming business.
Corporations across a wide swath of industries and in vastly different financial straits are being forced to stretch their cash, cut costs, avoid loan defaults and prepare to potentially reorganize their businesses.
Restructuring experts are finding themselves in demand, anticipating that companies will not be able to make good on their commitments on time and may seek to negotiate new terms with lenders, vendors, employees and other parties.
Dion Hayes, a restructuring attorney at McGuireWoods based in Virginia, said he was getting lots of calls from “businesses that rely on foot traffic.” Sharon Weiss, a bankruptcy lawyer with Bryan Cave in Los Angeles, said she was working with a client in the entertainment business that was looking for another investor to shore up its finances.
©2019 New York Times News Service