New Dewey filing confirms names of six pre-collapse merger suitors
A new Dewey & LeBoeuf bankruptcy filing has confirmed the identities of six potential merger partners that reviewed the firm's audited financial reports ahead of its collapse, reports The Am Law Daily. The 355-page financial statement, filed on Thursday (26 July) by advisers overseeing the Chapter 11 bankruptcy, details various payments made amid Dewey's death spiral as well as gross revenue figures for certain debtor entities in 2010 and 2011.
July 30, 2012 at 04:43 AM
4 minute read
A new Dewey & LeBoeuf bankruptcy filing has confirmed the identities of six potential merger partners that reviewed the firm's audited financial reports ahead of its collapse, reports The Am Law Daily.
The 355-page financial statement, filed on Thursday (26 July) by advisers overseeing the Chapter 11 bankruptcy, details various payments made amid Dewey's death spiral as well as gross revenue figures for certain debtor entities in 2010 and 2011.
The statement also lists the firms to which the debtor provided copies of its 2009, 2010 and 2011 financial statements "within the two years immediately preceding the commencement" of its Chapter 11 case on 28 May.
That list shows that Baker & McKenzie, Greenberg Traurig, Patton Boggs, Reed Smith, SNR Denton and Winston & Strawn were among those that "signed confidentiality agreements and received due diligence packages during potential merger discussions." All six firms have since recruited former Dewey lawyers.
According to the filing, Dewey's domestic US unit and certain foreign affiliates had $628.4m (£400.6m) in gross revenue in 2010, $655m (£417.6m) in 2011, and roughly $192.6m (£122.8m) through the first few months of 2012.
The figures represent monies accrued by the offices that comprise the bankrupt firm's estate and are directly subject to its Chapter 11 case. The foreign offices included in proceedings before the US bankruptcy court in Manhattan include those in Abu Dhabi, Almaty, Beijing, Brussels, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, and Moscow.
A separate LLP formed under UK law includes the firm's London and Paris offices. The other non-debtor affiliates are those that operated in Johannesburg, Madrid, Milan, Riyadh, Rome, Sao Paulo and Tbilisi.
As a result, the gross revenue numbers listed in the filing differ from the restated figures reported for Dewey by The American Lawyer in April – a revision prompted by a 27 March Bloomberg story in which firm leaders provided figures at odds with what The Am Law Daily had attributed to Dewey in March as part of its early Am Law 100 reporting. (Neither of those sets of numbers excluded revenues generated by Dewey's overseas offices.)
After reviewing audited financial statements for the firm – the contents of which were confirmed by a former Dewey partner as well as a partner still with the firm at the time – The American Lawyer's April restatement revised Dewey's gross revenue figures for 2010 and 2011 downward to $759.5m (£484.4m) and $782m (£498.7m) respectively.
The 2011 gross revenue figure was significantly lower than the $935m (£596.3m) initially reported by The Am Law Daily in March, when Dewey chairman Steven Davis put a positive spin on the firm's financial health. A little more than a week later, however, the bulk of the firm's insurance transactional team departed for Willkie Farr & Gallagher in a move that helped to spark the subsequent stream of partner exits.
The statement identifies Ernst & Young as the firm's auditor since 2010. The filing shows that Dewey paid the global accounting firm $114,807 (£73,200) in April, while rival PricewaterhouseCoopers received four payments totalling $328,275 (£209,000) in March, April and May.
The filing also shows that Dewey paid its bankruptcy counsel Togut Segal & Segal a total of $1.4m (£892,000) in a series of four payments in April and May prior to the bankruptcy filing. Also receiving money from the firm during that time were restructuring adviser Zolfo Cooper – $600,000 (£382,000) – and fellow restructuring firm Development Specialists – $615,768 (£392,500).
Others receiving payments from Dewey for services "related to debt counseling or bankruptcy" in the run-up to the Chapter 11 filing include crisis communications firm Sitrick Brincko Group ($215,134) and magic circle firm Allen & Overy ($30,524).
On Friday, US bankruptcy judge Martin Glenn, the former O'Melveny & Myers partner overseeing the Dewey case, issued an order scheduling a hearing for next Tuesday (31 July) on Dewey's request to keep using its cash collateral.
Dewey does not have approval to use the cash beyond 31 July, and the firm needs an extension because it has pushed back until 7 August the deadline for former partners to sign on to the proposed settlement plan, which will see the failed firm's former leaders being asked to contribute additional money to reflect their involvement in the firm's management.
The Am Law Daily is a US affiliate title of Legal Week.
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