The Executive Guide to Corporate Bankruptcy

Additional Book Details

This resource-intensive guide provides the business professional, including the troubled company executive, credit manager, workout professional and investor in distressed debt or equity, with a guided tour through the intricacies of the bankruptcy process in a concise and readily understood manner.

The authorsall seasoned professionals walk the reader through the stages of a Chapter 11 proceeding while addressing the business realities and dynamics affecting the diverse and often competing constituents involved in the restructuring process.

To assist the reader in navigating through this new world, the books forty page Glossary contains a detailed explanation of the terminology used in bankruptcy proceedings. The reader will readily become conversant with the vocabulary, rules, and sometimes arcane language of this unique process. Extensive endnotes accompany each chapter of this relatively compact book. In addition, the authors provide a real-life glimpse of the types of documents and pleadings commonly filed during the reorganization process through a series of Appendices containing sample documents.

These documents are drawn from actual Chapter 11 cases and include explanatory material about what the documents are intended to accomplish. This book will be of interest to corporate executives, boards of directors, investors, creditors, bankruptcy professionals, and anyone contemplating entry into the business restructuring arena. As the authors say in the opening chapters: Read on . . . the game is indeed afoot.

Making the complex and arcane understandable is a rare gift. For lay people facing a bankruptcy proceeding or living through one, this book is a godsend. Salerno, Kroop, and Hansen make both the logical and even the illogical aspects of the Chapter 11 process understandable. They provide a clear road map outlining what is likely to happen and outline the alternatives that exist to alter or ameliorate the outcome. Much has happened in the bankruptcy world since the first edition of the Executive Guide to Corporate Bankruptcy was published in 2001. This book captures those changes well and this new edition does a great job of tidying up the basics even further. This is definitely the book I would recommend to a non-bankruptcy practitioner unexpectedly caught up in the bankruptcy world and looking for a clear explanation of what is happening.

Anthony H.N. Schnelling (1947-2009), Managing Director Bridge Associates, LLC

This book may be the most important reading material for a vast population of corporate America today, unfortunate as that may be. Certainly it is required reading for any member of executive management in a highly leveraged company in todays troubled environment. The goal of the authors is to simply but accurately explain the bankruptcy process through an organized, informal, anecdote-laden approach. They hit substantially all the issues in corporate bankruptcy, from the basics of the automatic stay to the complex nuances of cramdown strategies. Messrs Salerno, Hansen, and Kroop deftly establish the context for the Chapter 11 process, as well as related actions and strategies. They also provide a detailed index that readily directs the reader to individual topics. All in all, this is a comprehensive and relatively easy-to-read treatment of an extremely complex and increasingly important subject. It is a valuable reference guide for executives and others who are faced with potential bankruptcy issues from their customers, suppliers, or their own companies in the years ahead.

Jeffrey I. Werbalowsky, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Houlihan Lokey

This is the best book for executives and non-bankruptcy lawyers that I have ever read on the practical realities of corporate bankruptcies. The book is also very entertaining, which is not surprising considering that Salerno, Kroop, and Hansen are certifiably insane. This book is so good that I wish I had written it and I'm going to make all of our new associates read it so they won't have to ask me any questions. It's that good.

Robin E. Phelan, Partner, Haynes and Boone, LLP

I manage an investment partnership based in San Diego, Ca. I just finished studying The Executive Guide to Corporate Bankruptcy and wanted to thank you for writing this book and let you know that it is by far the best that I have found on the subject written for the non-lawyer. You did a great job of breaking down the most critical aspects of the bankruptcy process and writing it in such a way that people like me wont fall asleep!