ABI’s Asset Sales Committee announced that In re Verity Health System of California Inc., Case No. 2:18-bk-20151-ER (C.D. Cal.), won the committee’s third annual “Asset Sale of the Year” award. The committee said that it selected Verity as the top asset sale because the sale (1) was part of one of the largest hospital bankruptcies ever filed; (2) established important precedent regarding the transfer of Medicare and Medicaid Provider Agreements in a bankruptcy case and the limited scope of the California Attorney General’s powers over the sale of nonprofit health care assets in bankruptcy; and (3) saved important institutional hospitals, preserving thousands of jobs and ensuring that residents in these counties and communities continue to have access to critical health care. Honorable mentions from the submissions received included the asset sales in In re Southern Foods Group LLC, et al. (S.D. Tex.) and In re OGGUSA Inc., f/k/a GenCanna Global USA Inc. (E.D. Ky.).
Bankruptcy sales (via either § 363 or a chapter 11 reorganization plan) that closed between January 1 and December 31, 2020, were eligible for the contest, and at least one professional involved in the sale had to be a member of the Asset Sales Committee. Self-nominations were permitted. Submissions were received from January through April 5, 2021. Criteria for submissions included:
- Completion of a sale that was strategic and provided stakeholders with value;
- A display of excellence across the full spectrum of the sale process, from the initial targeting through pursuit, structuring and financing to complete a transaction;
- A sale that reflects a high level of professional expertise in the design of the transaction, and that tested creativity and skill in completing the transaction; or
- A sale of strategic or legal significance and impact (winning entries might focus on overcoming challenges to complete the sale, innovative financial engineering, and motivating agreement across multiple stakeholders)
Previous winners of the “Asset Sale of the Year” contest include:
- 2020: In re Agera Energy LLC, et al., Case No. 19-23802 (S.D.N.Y.)
- 2019: In re Cobalt International Energy Inc., et al., Case No.: 17-36709 (S.D. Tex.).