Bankruptcy Committees

• Official Committee of Equity Security Holders of AgFeed Industries, Inc. (Bankr. D. Del.).  AgFeed Industries, Inc. and its affiliates were among the nation’s largest hog producers with significant operations in the U.S. and China when the companies filed bankruptcy in July 2013.  In these complex chapter 11 cases before the Delaware bankruptcy court, Aaron represented the official equity security holder’s committee to obtain significant recoveries for shareholders.  As equity committee counsel, Aaron received the TMA Global's “Large Transaction of the Year” for delivering a distribution to shareholders following a successful asset sale and liquidation process. 
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors Quadrant 4 System Corporation, et al. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Quadrant 4 System Corporation and its subsidiary, Stratitude, Inc., was a publicly traded company engaged in the business of selling IT products and services to clients in the retail, manufacturing, financial services and healthcare industries.  Aaron oversaw the sale of the Debtors’ business divisions as going concerns, increasing the likelihood of a distribution for unsecured creditors will ensuring the many of the debtors’ employees retained employment with the company, post-sale.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Trinsic, Inc., et al. (Bankr. S.D. Ala.).  Trinsic, Inc. was a national provider of local and long distance telephone service to both residential and business customers with annual revenues exceeding $100 million. The committee, through its counsel, led a highly successful auction process for Trinsic’s assets, resulting in an ultimate sale price 25% higher than the initial bid received. In recognition of this success, Aaron was awarded the 2009 “Large Transaction of the Year” by the Chicago/ Midwest Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Zero Energy Systems, LLC. (Bankr. S.D. Ia.).  Zero Energy Systems was a nationwide manufacturer of pre-fabricated cement walls.  Aaron represented official creditors’ committee in this case and lead the settlement process with the debtor's senior secured lender.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Caffe Ettore, Inc. (Bankr. E.D. Ca.).  Caffe Ettore was a closely held Sacramento, California area bakery and café chain.  Aaron represented the official creditors’ committee in this case.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Lyon Workspace Products (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Lyon Workspace Products was one of the Midwest’s largest manufacturers of storage lockers and other metal workspace products when it filed in early 2013.  As committee counsel, Aaron was instrumental to the company’s successful sale of assets and as counsel to the Debtors’ successor in interest in the chapter 11 case.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Trainor Glass Company (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Trainor Glass Company was the nation’s third largest commercial glazier, with annual revenues of hundreds of millions at its peak.  Aaron represented the creditors’ committee through confirmation of a joint liquidating plan and successful resolution of issues with the debtors' senior lenders.  
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Wagstaff Minnesota Inc., et al. (Bankr. D. Minn.).  Before its bankruptcy filing, Wagstaff was one of the largest operators of KFC franchises across the nation, with over twelve hundred employees and seventy-seven restaurants located in Minnesota, Alaska, California, Idaho, and Texas.  Aaron represented the creditors’ committee in this case and worked with the debtors and their secured lenders to effectuate a successful reorganization.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of RWJ Management Co., Inc., et al. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  RWJ was a family owned business operating 10 high profile, BP-branded, motor fuel sales and mini-market facilities pursuant to agreements and licenses with BP Products North America.  In this case, Aaron led the committee in successfully negotiating key concessions from RWJ and its lenders for the benefit of unsecured creditors.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Giordano’s Enterprises, Inc., et al. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Giordano’s is a Chicago institution, offering its famous Chicago deep-dish pizza and other Italian specialties to customers at more than 55 restaurants in Illinois and Florida for almost 40 years.  Here, Aaron represented the creditors’ committee and worked with the debtor and its senior secured lender to effectuate a going-concern sale of Giordano’s restaurant operations through a competitive bidding procedure under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Duke & King Acquisition, Inc. (Bankr. D. Minn.).  Prior to its bankruptcy filing, Duke and King was one of the largest operators of Burger King franchises in the Midwest, with almost one hundred stores located in six states. Aaron represented the creditors’ committee in this case and worked with the debtor, its senior secured lender and Burger King Corporation to effectuate a sale of substantially all of the debtor’s assets through a competitive bidding procedure under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Midwest Banc Holdings, Inc. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Midwest Banc was the holding company for Midwest Bank and Trust Company, a regional Chicago-based bank with more than $3.4 billion in assets, which was placed in receivership by the FDIC in May of 2010.  Aaron represented the creditors’ committee in this 7th largest chapter 11 filing of 2010 and worked with the debtor to confirm a joint plan of liquidation of the debtor’s remaining assets and negotiate with the FDIC regarding conflicting interests in certain assets.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Natural Pork Production II LLC (Bankr. S.D. Iowa). Natural Pork, one of the nation’s largest commercial hog producers, operated farrow to finishing hog farming facilities in multiple Midwest locations.  In this case, Aaron represented creditors’ committee through the company’s orderly sale process and ongoing litigation with former insiders of the company over control and prepetition property transfer issues.  This transaction was awarded M&A Advisors’ “Consumer and Retail Products Deal of the Year” for the 2013 sales of several company operating facilities.  Unsecured creditors recovered over 90 cents on the dollar in these cases.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of In re Schwab Industries, Inc. (Bankr. N.D. Ohio).  Schwab Industries, Inc. was the leading supplier of ready-mix cement in Ohio and Florida with more than $100 million annual revenue for 2009.  Aaron represented the creditors’ committee in this case, successfully shepherded the company through a sale of substantially all of its assets in a section 363 auction, generating substantial additional value.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Agri-Best Holdings, Inc. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Agri-Best was a leading Chicago-based processor and distributor of portion control meat products to national restaurant chains, food distributors and consumers with annual revenues of approximately $150 million. Aaron represented the creditors’ committee in this case, worked with the debtors to effectuate a sale of the company and successfully pursued litigation claims against the debtors’ pre-bankruptcy secured lenders.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of PPM Technologies Holdings, Inc. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  PPM Technologies was a leading provider of advanced technologies to the global food processing industries, with operations in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Mexico and India.  Aaron represented the creditors’ committee in this case and worked with the debtors to complete a going-concern sale of the company. 
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of In re Arch Aluminum & Glass Co. (Bankr. S.D. Fla.).  Aaron served as special litigation counsel to the creditors’ committee in the chapter 11 cases of Arch Aluminum & Glass Co., one of North America’s largest architectural glass and aluminum fabricators and distributors.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Arena Football League, LLC (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  The Arena Football League was a premier professional indoor football league with franchises in major cities across the country.  Aaron represented the creditors’ committee in this case, and worked with the league and other key parties to complete a sale of the league’s assets.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Knight-Celotex LLC (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Aaron represented the creditors’ committee of Knight-Celotex, a leading manufacturer of fiberboard and building products, in its chapter 11 cases.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Modern Metal Products Inc. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Aaron represented the creditors’ committee of Modern Metal Products, a leader in the design, engineering and manufacture of high quality stampings and mechanisms with more than $75 million in annual revenues.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Orius Corporation, et al. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Orius Corporation was a leading national provider of construction and infrastructure services to the country’s largest telecommunications companies, with annual revenues once exceeding $1 billion.  In this case, Aaron successfully negotiated key concessions from Orius and its lenders for the benefit of unsecured creditors.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Mid-City Parking, Inc. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Mid-City Parking was one of Chicago’s largest operators of parking lots and garages. As a result of the committee’s efforts, unsecured creditors stand to receive a 100 percent distribution, plus interest, on account of their claims.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Holly Marine Towing, Inc. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  In this case, Aaron represented the unsecured creditors of Holly Marine Towing, an owner and operator of commercial tugboats and barges, and a provider of towing services throughout the Great Lakes region.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of The Wireless Network, LLC (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Aaron unsecured creditors of The Wireless Network, a leading operator of Verizon Wireless retail outlets throughout the Midwest, in its chapter 11 case and resulting bankruptcy sale.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Gluth Bros. Construction, Inc. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Aaron represented the unsecured creditors of Gluth Bros. Construction, a large local provider of sewer and water construction services, as well as the liquidation trustee in creditor trust administration and post-confirmation litigation.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Midcom Communications, Inc. (Bankr. E.D. Mich.).  Aaron served as counsel to official committee of unsecured creditors to Midcom Communications, Inc., a national reseller of telecommunication services with over 100,000 subscribers on the petition date, in a successful 363 sale of substantially all of the debtor’s assets, ultimately resulting in over a 40 percent distribution on allowed unsecured creditor claims.
   
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Chicago Athletic Association (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Aaron represented the unsecured creditors of the Chicago Athletic Association, one of Chicago’s oldest and most respected private clubs, in its chapter 11 case resulting in 100 percent distributions, plus interest, to all creditors.