Dead Malls Walking

Mr. Niemann is a Managing Director and senior member of Houlihan Lokey’s Financial Restructuring Group. He is based in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Mr. Niemann is a member of the Board of Directors of William Lyon Homes (NYSE: WLH), one of the largest homebuilders in the Western United States, where he sits on the Compensation (Chair), Governance, and Audit Committees and chaired the Pricing Committee for WLH’s IPO in May 2013.

Over his 26-year career, Mr. Niemann has served as a principal or advisor in a wide range of M&A, restructuring, and financing transactions for Fortune 500 and middle-market companies. He also regularly testifies as an expert in federal court on valuation, capital market, fiduciary duty, and transaction process issues. Prior to joining Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Niemann ran PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Financial Advisory Services Group and practiced law in Bryan Cave’s Corporate, Banking & Real Estate practice in St. Louis. He also spent three years with Cerberus Capital, initially establishing its Chicago office and later serving as Senior Managing Director and Chief Strategic Officer of GMAC ResCap (a Cerberus portfolio company) in charge of strategy for its $5 billion portfolio of builder and developer real estate investments.

Mr. Niemann holds Finance and Law degrees from St. Louis University, where he served on the Law Review. He was a guest lecturer for five years at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago, was a member of the Ph.D. Dissertation Committee at Webster University in St. Louis, and has been recognized by the K&A Registry as one of the leading restructuring investment bankers in the United States. Mr. Niemann has served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee as Treasurer of the St. Louis Oncology Centers (dba Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater St. Louis) and Our Holy Redeemer Catholic Parish Council and School Board, serving as Treasurer.

Cory Lipoff serves Hilco Global as Vice Chairman of Hilco Merchant Resources, specializing in structuring and implementing sophisticated asset redeployment strategies for retailers.

Prior to joining Hilco in 2000, Cory was a Partner in bankruptcy/commercial law at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, one of the nation’s largest law firms. While at Jones Day, he participated in numerous major retail Chapter 11 cases including: Federated Department Stores/Allied Stores Corporation, Herman’s Sporting Goods, Warehouse Club and Gantos. Cory has served as Chairman of the Compensation Committee on the board of directors of Loehmann’s, and on the board of advisors for the University of Florida, Miller Retail Center. During his tenure with Hilco Global, Cory has led initiatives involving tens of thousands of store locations and inventory valued in excess of $50 billion. Over the years, Cory has been called upon by many high-profile retail organizations and their advisors to maximize the value of inventory, fixtures and equipment. His list of notable clients includes: Montgomery Ward, Circuit City, Borders Book Stores, Forever 21, Toys “R” Us, Saks Fifth Avenue and Walgreens. Cory is recognized expert in bankruptcy, corporate reorganization and restructurings, and a frequent speaker on legal, financial and bankruptcy issues.

He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison and earned his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law.

Mr. Ivester was lead counsel to SunEdison, Inc., one of the world’s largest renewable energy developers, in its Chapter 11 case (the largest filed in 2016) and its successful emergence from bankruptcy. He also recently helped steer Exide Technologies through its successful Chapter 11 restructuring. Mr. Ivester led Skadden’s representations of Hostess Brands, the maker of Wonder Bread and Twinkies, in its emergence from Chapter 11; Hayes-Lemmerz, the largest global producer of wheels for passenger cars and light trucks; and Mark IV/Dayco Products, a tier-one automotive supplier. In the retail sector, Mr. Ivester was one of the partners that led the firm’s representation of Kmart Corporation and its affiliates in their successful emergence from Chapter 11. He also led the firm’s representation of Einstein Bros./Noah Bagel Corporation and its affiliate in their restructuring and played a key role in the firm’s representation of Montgomery Ward.

Mr. Ivester’s representations also have included Travelport Limited in connection with the out-of-court restructuring of $2.1 billion of capital markets debt and term loans, a transaction that was named as the “Out-of-Court Restructuring Deal of the Year (Over $1 Billion)” for 2013 by The M&A Advisor; Ipsen Pharma SAS in the Chapter 11 case of Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. and the sale of certain drug patents; Dayco Products LLC in the acquisition of the assets of Metavation LLC, a Chapter 11 debtor; DISH Network Corporation in its $1.4 billion acquisition of 100 percent of the equity of DBSD North America, Inc.; and MF Global Holdings, Ltd. in its Chapter 11 filing.

Other restructuring engagements for which Mr. Ivester has had primary responsibility include Haynes International, a leading producer of specialty metals; FPA Medical Management, Inc., one of the nation’s largest physician practice and management companies, and its affiliates; County Seat Stores, Inc., a casual wear specialty retailer; and Air Transport International, Inc., a large cargo charter airline. Representing either debtors or creditors, Mr. Ivester has worked on several other restructurings, both in- and out-of-court, including UDC Homes, Inc., Witmark, Inc., Peregrine, Inc., MCorp, Lomas Financial Corporation, Lone Star Steel Company, First RepublicBank Corporation, Insilco Corporation, Magic Circle Energy Corporation, Peter J. Schmitt Co., Inc. and HSSI, Incorporated.

The Turnaround Management Association recognized Mr. Ivester for his work on the Hostess Brands Chapter 11, naming it the Large Company Transaction of the Year at its 2009 Transaction of the Year Awards. In February 2009, Mr. Ivester was named Dealmaker of the Week by The Am Law Daily for his work on the same case. Mr. Ivester was named one of Turnarounds & Workouts’ Outstanding Restructuring Lawyers in 2017, was selected for inclusion in Chambers Global in 2016 and 2017, has been named in Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America and repeatedly has been selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The Best Lawyers in America, IFLR1000 and Euromoney and Legal Media Group’s Expert Guide to the World’s Leading Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyers. Mr. Ivester is a fellow of The American College of Bankruptcy.

Jim has deep experience working directly with senior management, investors, creditors and other stakeholders in matters ranging from out-of-court workouts, prepackaged and prearranged Chapter 11 reorganizations to cram down plans of reorganization and sales of substantially all assets. He is experienced in representing corporate debtors, secured creditors, asset purchasers, official committees of unsecured creditors, liquidating trustees, receivers, investors and other stakeholders, in bankruptcy courts and other courts throughout the United States. Additionally, Jim has experience serving on compliance and monitorship teams in conjunction with both transactional and litigation matters.

Chambers states that “Clients offer praise for his attention to detail and skill as a litigator,” and "Jim crafts nuanced strategies for each matter based on the surrounding circumstances and needs of his client. He is an outstanding advocate in court." Chambers also highlights that Jim “enjoys a strong reputation for his bankruptcy practice, which encompasses a wide range of insolvency law and financial restructuring work.”

Jim is a recognized leader of professional bankruptcy and restructuring organizations including serving as a member of the Turnaround Management Association Global Executive Board of Trustees and a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute Board of Directors. He is a national speaker at industry group conferences and quoted in national publications on bankruptcy and restructuring issues.

Jim holds an MBA in finance, is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor, and a Certified Valuation Analyst. Prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg, Jim practiced with another nationwide law firm and was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business teaching corporate finance and restructuring. He was also a senior consultant in the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Services practice of FTI Consulting, Inc. and a senior associate in the Business Recovery Services division of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.