from staff
Steve Busey, chairman of Jacksonville law firm Smith Hulsey & Busey, has received international recognition for his work in the Winn-Dixie Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. Busey is a 2007 recipient of the Turnaround Management Association’s (TMA) 2007 Turnaround of the Year in the Mega Company Turnaround category ($1 billion USD or greater in revenue at the onset of the turnaround).
Award winners will be honored at the TMA’s annual convention in Boston this month.
Along with Busey, the Winn-Dixie “turnaround” team recognized by the TMA included financial advisor Flip Huffard of The Blackstone Group, restructuring advisor Holly Felder Etlin (formerly with XRoads Solutions Group, LLC) and co-counsel D.J. Baker of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
“Winn-Dixie’s restructuring was extraordinary,” said Busey. “To completely restructure a company this size and turn around its operations in 21 months in a Chapter 11 proceeding was a remarkable achievement by Winn-Dixie. We were proud to be part of the team that helped make it happen.”
The Winn-Dixie bankruptcy case was the biggest bankruptcy in Jacksonville since The Charter Company bankruptcy in the late 1980s. Busey, also counsel for Charter, established Smith Hulsey & Busey’s reputation as a leader in high-profile bankruptcy litigation. The firm has successfully represented debtors’ and creditors’ interests in major, complex business reorganizations in bankruptcy courts throughout Florida, including several New York Stock Exchange companies. Smith Hulsey & Busey also counsels troubled companies outside of bankruptcy proceedings regarding their restructuring alternatives, fiduciary duties and governance issues.
Now in its 16th year, the 2007 Turnaround of the Year award recognizes individuals or teams who orchestrated the most successful restructuring and restoration of corporate value between July 1, 2006 and June 20, 2007.
Turnarounds in the supermarket industry, with its intense competition and narrow profit margins, are particularly difficult to execute. In recent years, six of the eight most prominent supermarket operators have failed to emerge from bankruptcy in stand-alone grocery chains. In contrast, after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2006, Winn-Dixie turned a profit in the fourth quarter and the fiscal year ended June 27, 2007. The grocery chain reported earnings of $300.6 million on revenue of $7.2 billion, up from last year’s net loss of $361.3 million on revenue of $7.1 billion.