Corporate-turnaround specialist Jay Alix asked a bankruptcy judge to consider reopening coal miner Alpha Natural Resources’ chapter 11 case, citing “gravely troubling and disqualifying disclosure violations” by McKinsey & Co., the Wall Street Journal reported. In court papers filed Wednesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va., lawyers for Alix said that McKinsey, which worked as an adviser to Alpha during its bankruptcy, concealed an investment in the company and profited by some $50 million as a result. The revelation that McKinsey had a financial interest in the outcome of Alpha’s bankruptcy warrants reopening the case and revisiting whether the firm failed to properly disclose potential conflicts of interest, according to Alix. The request is the latest salvo in a growing legal battle between Alix and the consultancy, which accuses Alix of trying to sully a competitor to the turnaround business he founded decades ago.
