How to Value Debt

Mr. Hilty is a Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Houlihan Lokey’s Financial Restructuring Group. He has been employed by the firm for more than 25 years and has advised companies, secured lenders, bondholders, and other creditor groups in out-of-court restructurings, prepackaged or prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcies, and unplanned Chapter 11 reorganizations.

In addition, Mr. Hilty has been involved in the financial restructuring of several European and Latin American-based companies advising both debtors and creditors, including designing and structuring out-of-court exchange offers and prearranged reorganizations in local European and Latin American jurisdictions. He is based in the firm’s New York office. In addition to assisting clients with financial restructuring services, Mr. Hilty has provided clients with a variety of other investment banking and valuation services, including debt financings for distressed and non-distressed companies, advising on the acquisition or sale of companies and/or operating divisions in a distressed and non-distressed environment, and raising debt and equity capital.

Mr. Hilty holds a B.S. in Commerce with a concentration in Finance from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce.

A partner in the Restructuring Department, Alice advises creditor and debtor clients in corporate reorganizations and bankruptcies, with a focus on postpetition financings, exit financings and specialized finance structures. Her recent company-side matters include advising Animal Supply Company, Preferred Sands, Expro Holdings, Performance Sports Group and Foresight Energy LP, and recent creditor-side experience includes advising stakeholders in Neiman Marcus Group, Inc., PetSmart, Inc., Exide Technologies and an informal committee of certain holders of secured and unsecured notes of Chassix Inc. and Chassix Holdings, Inc.

John Penn focuses his practice on bankruptcy and workouts. During his almost four decades of practice, John has represented secured and unsecured creditors, debtors, trustees and unsecured creditor committees in major and high-profile reorganizations and insolvency proceedings.

John is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and a past president of the American Bankruptcy Institute. He is certified by both the American Board of Certification and Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Business Bankruptcy Law. Throughout his career, John has counseled clients involved in complex Chapter 11 reorganizations and restructurings in a range of industries, including airlines, financial services, construction, energy, hospitality, home furnishings, nonprofits, timber and commercial real estate.

His background includes representing clients in bankruptcy litigation, including defending against attempts to recover alleged fraudulent transfers and preferential transfers, as well as equitable subordination. Many of the clients he defended compromised the claims for substantial discounts, including "cost of defense" settlements.

John frequently provides commentary to the media on current issues and writes articles on topical issues, such as on new disclosure requirements for bankruptcy attorneys, fraudulent transfers in the Chrysler bankruptcy and credit bidding. Recognized for the past decade by The Best Lawyers in America, John served as a director of the American College of Bankruptcy Foundation and was a member of the Executive Board of the Longhorn Council Boy Scouts of America, where he also served as the chairman of the Council’s National Eagle Scout Association Committee.

Hon. Michael E. Wiles is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York in New York, sworn in on March 3, 2015.

Previously, was was a partner with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, where he focused on general commercial litigation and bankruptcy. Judge Wiles co-authored the Collier Business Workout Guide (Mathew Bender 2007) and has appeared on panels organized by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the American College of Investment Council and others to discuss current issues in bankruptcy litigation. He is also a former member of the Committee on Bankruptcy and Reorganization of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. His publications and written CLE materials include “May Parties Consent to Bankruptcy Court Adjudication of ‘Stern Claims’” (September 2014) (presented at a continuing legal education session at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York); “Ponzi Schemes and Avoidance Actions: 3 Issues,” Law360 (March 7, 2011); “The Good Faith Defense to Fraudulent Transfer Claims” (December 2010) (presented at a continuing legal education session at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York); and “At the Crossroads: The Intersection of the Federal Securities Laws and the Bankruptcy Code,” The Business Lawyer (November 2007).

Judge Wiles received his A.B. degree from Georgetown University in 1975 and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1978.

Marc J. Heimowitz is with Coda Advisory Group LLC in New York, where he focuses on distressed and special-situation investments. He frequently takes active roles in large capital structure restructurings, administration of ad hoc creditor committees, and bankruptcy-related litigations.

Previously, Mr. Heimowitz was a portfolio manager with Claren Road Asset Management and a managing director and head of credit special situations at and Citigroup, where he managed investments related to companies in stress or reorganization, including bankruptcy reorganizations and liquidations, out-ofcourt restructurings, rescue financings and distressed acquisitions. Prior to joining Citigroup, he was a senior credit analyst on the distressed trading desk at Merrill Lynch, managed distressed-debt and emerging market portfolios, and practiced law in both New York and Florida.

Mr. Heimowitz is a Charted Financial Analyst (CFA), holds Series 7, 24 and 63 licenses with FINRA, is a member of ABI and has published and lectured on U.S. transnational insolvency matters at the World Bank and other forums.

He received his B.S. in finance with highest honors from the University of Florida and his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law in 1993, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.