Aaron L. Hammer, Esq. engaged as counsel to Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Newton Manufacturing Company (Bankr. S.D. Iowa)

06/09/2015

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CHICAGO, Illinois (June 9, 2015) the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (the “Committee”) of Newton Manufacturing Company (“Newton”) engaged Aaron L. Hammer, Esq. and his team at Sugar Felsenthal Grais & Hammer LLP as its legal counsel. Founded in 1909, Newton was a nationwide distributor of customer customized promotional products, such as writing instruments, golf balls, apparel, and travel bags. In 1988, Newton converted to an Employee Owned Stock Plan (“ESOP”) with 60% of the stock held by the ESOP and the remaining 40% owned by twelve individuals. In 2000, Newton had 167 employees, its independent third party sales force was composed of 700 individuals, and had annual sales of $83 million. On June 26, 2015, with the Committee’s backing, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Iowa approved the sale of substantially all of Newton’s non-real property assets to HALO Branded Solutions, Inc., one of the largest promotional products distributors in the U.S. The Committee will now co-lead the drafting of a comprehensive plan of liquidation with the Debtor and continue working closely with its professionals to create value for the Debtor’s creditors.

Aaron L. Hammer leads SugarFGH’s national bankruptcy and creditors’ rights practice, which includes Etahn M. Cohen, Leland H. Chait, Christopher J. Horvay, Mark S. Melickian, Michael A. Brandess, Jack R. O’Connor, David M. Madden and Matthew Streit. SugarFGH’s bankruptcy and creditors’ rights attorneys have been recognized by Chambers USA: Leading Lawyers for Business and Turnaround and Workouts as leaders in the field, and have been quoted on insolvency issues in, among other places, The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. In 2014, SugarFGH received the Turnaround Management Association Global’s prestigious Transaction of the Year Award for its work as counsel to the Official Committee of Equity Security Holders in the highly publicized bankruptcy cases, In re AgFeed USA, et al. (Bankr. D. Del.). Heading into its fourth decade, Chicago-based SugarFGH continues to build enduring, trusted relationships with its clients and provide them with creative legal solutions and paths to success in challenging and changing business environments.
 
Should you have any further inquiries, please contact Aaron L. Hammer or Michael A. Brandess by telephone at (312) 704-9400 or by e-mail at ahammer@SugarFGH.com or mbrandess@SugarFGH.com.