Members of the bankruptcy bar in Atlanta have repeatedly told the Deal Watch blog that most of the exciting action in restructuring these days takes place outside of bankruptcy court.
Those types of deals, however, are hard to find and even harder to report, since they typically don’t involve publicly accessible court documents. And when documents can be found, attorneys who are working on the transactions are loathe to discuss them, since their clients aren’t keen to air their dirty laundry in public.
Sometimes, though, an out-of-court restructuring will bubble to the surface. That was the case with a $17 million loan workout handled by Charles J. “Chuck” Driebe of Jonesboro. Driebe is a partner, along with his son, Charles Driebe Jr., in the firm Driebe & Driebe.
Driebe was lead counsel to Deerfield Group LLC of Hampton, Ga. Deerfield renegotiated the terms of a $17 million mortgage it held on more than 200 acres in south Fulton, Clayton and Henry counties, Driebe said. Deerfield, which was in default the loan, restructured the terms with the two lenders, Palmetto Capital Corp. and Nexity Financial Corp.’s Nexity Bank.
Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Martin partner Jimmy Paul advised Deerfield on issues related to bankruptcy law, Driebe said.
Cushing, Morris, Armbruster & Montgomery partners Mac Cushing and Parker Gilbert advised Palmetto Capital, according to court records.
Paul, Cushing and Gilbert did not return calls and emails seeking comment.
Nexity Bank was advised by McKenna Long & Aldridge partner Gary Marsh, with assistance from partner Jimmy Barkin and senior counsel Thomas Hall. Marsh declined to discuss his work for Nexity.
Like many banks, Nexity, of Birmingham, Ala., has been struggling due to the economic downturn. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the State of Alabama Banking Department issued a cease-and-desist order to Nexity this month, according to the Birmingham News.