Paul, Weiss Advises Ad Hoc Group of Lenders in Windstream Restructuring

Paul, Weiss advised an ad hoc group of first lien lenders in connection with the chapter 11 restructuring of Windstream Holdings, Inc., a leading provider of advanced network communications and technology solutions. Windstream announced on June 25 that it has confirmed its reorganization plan in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The company expects to complete its financial restructuring process and emerge from bankruptcy protection as a privately held company in late August.

The plan allows Windstream to reduce its debt by more than $4 billion and reorganize its governance, which includes naming some of its creditors to seats on the company's new board of directors. The plan eliminates junior bondholders who were owed close to $2.4 billion, converts some senior debt to equity, and renders Elliott Management Windstream's largest shareholder. This deleveraging and new financing will give Windstream access to approximately $2 billion in new capital.

The Paul, Weiss team includes, among others, restructuring partners Brian Hermann, Andrew Rosenberg and Paul Basta and counsel Samuel Lovett and Stephen Shimshak; corporate partner Kenneth Schneider and counsel Chaim Theil; litigation partner Aidan Synnott; tax partners Scott Sontag and David Mayo; real estate partner Peter Fisch and counsel Karla Booth and Allen Wieder; antitrust counsel Yuni Sobel; international trade counsel Richard Elliott; and employee benefits counsel Reuven Falik.