McDonald Hopkins LLC

We have developed one of the largest and most sophisticated middle-market debtor practices in the Eastern U.S. Our clients range in size from $20 million to $500 million in revenues. They are in businesses as diverse as primary healthcare, automotive, nursing home management, personal care products, computer consulting, restaurant operations, oil and gas production and ceramic tile manufacturing. They include publicly traded and privately held companies. Their common characteristic is a need for sophisticated and responsive restructuring services.

What We Do 

Our restructuring services involve much more than bankruptcy. Most of our clients, in fact, are able to accomplish their turnaround through non-judicial means. We have the expertise and knowledge to offer our clients various legal options to accomplish a restructuring; the skills and patience to guide our clients through that process; and the confidence and experience to provide meaningful advice and recommendations to our clients.

Our Approach

We view ourselves as part of a client’s restructuring “team.” Our advice is not offered in a vacuum, but as part of a coordinated effort; taking into account the skills, knowledge and expertise of the client’s management and other advisors. We begin and end all of our advice with one primary question: What is the client’s objective? We do not provide, and are not interested in providing, the perfect intellectual answer. We provide the best practical answer.

The Scope of Our Work

The options for a company requiring some sort of restructuring include something as straightforward as a renegotiation of its secured credit facility, as well as a refinancing of its debt, a debt/equity swap with junior debt, the infusion of a new equity capital, or the sale of the business’ assets. Our restructuring attorneys have managed the process for, or counseled clients on, each of those options. We are able to offer our clients the legal expertise and the real-life experience that comes with having advised on dozens of significant restructurings.

Sample Debtor Representations:

• Forum Health et al. (Youngstown, Ohio) Primary healthcare provider; over $100 million of secured debt presently pending.
• Hawaii Medical Center, LLC, et al. (Honolulu, Hawaii) Primary healthcare provider; over $50 million of secured debt presently pending.
• The Antioch Company, et al. (Dayton, Ohio) Parent company of internationally recognized direct seller of keepsake supplies; over $500 million of revenue, presently pending, McDonald Hopkins is local counsel.
• BPI Energy, Inc. (Cleveland, Ohio) Exploration and development of naturally occurring gas attributable to coals beds; over $ 10 million of secured debt.
• Republic Engineered Products, LLC (Akron, Ohio) Specialty steel bar manufacturer; over $300 million of secured debt McDonald Hopkins successfully guided Republic through a “section 363 sale” in a transaction valued at over $300 million.
• Republic Technologies International, LLC (Akron, Ohio) Steel bar manufacturer; over $1 billion of annual revenue. In addition to managing Republic Technologies’ three-year bankruptcy, McDonald Hopkins documented and closed the sale of the company’s operating assets and then crafted a wind-down plan for the bankruptcy estate.
• Midland Steel Products Company (Wilmington, Delaware) Steel manufacturer; over $50 million of annual revenue. Midland retained McDonald Hopkins just five days prior to its Chapter 11 filing, yet its filing occurred with no impact on its business.
• RMA Management Services, Inc. (Youngstown, Ohio) A company that provides accounts receivable management services with approximate annual revenue of $175 million. McDonald Hopkins served as bankruptcy counsel to RMA.
• Tiro Industries, Inc. (Wilmington, Delaware) Minneapolis-based manufacturer of private-label hair-care and beauty products. McDonald Hopkins served as bankruptcy counsel and guided Tiro’s board through the after-effects of a multi-year fraud.
• Nationwide Communications, Inc. (Detroit, Michigan) Largest privately held owner of payphones in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.
• UniBoring, Inc. (Detroit, Michigan) Automotive component machining and manufacturing operation with approximately 500 employees and three facilities in southeast Michigan; over $160 million of revenue. 
• Indiana-based automotive parts manufacturer a Tier II parts maker with over $90 million of revenue. McDonald Hopkins is working with all creditor constituencies to craft a restructuring that will include the continued participation of current equity holders.
• Operator of healthcare facilities -- This company has 70 facilities in three states and multiple layers of debt. McDonald Hopkins has worked with this client to use the legal and business risks of a bankruptcy to effect a series of forbearance agreements, working towards an out-of-court restructuring.
• Imperial Home Decor Group, Inc. (Wilmington, Delaware) Manufacturer of residential wallcovering products; over $218 million of annual revenue. McDonald Hopkins managed, negotiated and documented the sale of substantially all of Imperial Home Decor’s assets, and addressed a number of cross-border legal issues resulting from the insolvency, and sale of the assets of Imperial’s Canadian subsidiary.
• O-J Transport (Detroit, Michigan) Leading provider of transportation services and logistics to the automotive industry.
• DeVlieg-Bullard II, Inc. (Akron, Ohio) Global provider of proprietary machine tools and replacement parts; manufacturer of specialty machines and workholding products. McDonald Hopkins assisted DeVlieg in the sale of its operating assets and with the orderly liquidation of its remaining assets.
• Summitville Tiles, Inc. (Summitville, Ohio) Manufacturer of Ceramic Tile. McDonald Hopkins assisted Summitville in the negotiation and drafting of its plan of reorganization. Cleveland-based Tier I automotive parts manufacturer (out-of-court restructuring) with over $80 million in annual revenue.
• Out-of-court workout and sale of large Midwest truck lessor and logistics company with over 5,500 trucks over a three-year period, negotiated numerous forbearance agreements, as well as a significant recovery to the company’s owners, notwithstanding a less than full recovery to secured creditors.
• Gliatech Inc. (Cleveland, Ohio) Biotechnology manufacturer and developer McDonald Hopkins assisted in the sale of four separate business units of a biotechnology company in Chapter 11 asset sales.
• Buffalo Molded Plastic dba Andover Industries, Inc. (Erie, Pennsylvania) A Tier I producer of plastic injection molded parts; annual sales of approximately $70 million.
• Renaissance Plastics Company (Rochester, New York) Plastics Manufacturer; Tier II automotive supplier. McDonald Hopkins served successfully and concluded a sale of Renaissance’s three operating subsidiaries, notwithstanding the opposition of a member of the senior secured creditor group.
• Subsidiary Railroads of LTV Steel (out-of-court restructuring counsel) McDonald Hopkins successfully negotiated a settlement with parent LTV Steel that resulted in the subsidiary railroads funding a VEBA trust for their retirees. McDonald Hopkins continues to assist the railroads in their negotiation of settlements with their auditors.
• Copperweld Steel Company (Youngstown, Ohio) Steel bar manufacturer; over $200 million of annual revenue. Cooperweld was one of McDonald Hopkins’ first steel-related Chapter 11 cases. Its plan was confirmed in 1996.
• Bush Leasing, Inc. (Dayton, Ohio) Lessor of over 11,000 vehicles; over $400 million of secured debt; 30 lenders and 24 credit agreements. In one of the largest Chapter 11 cases in the Dayton, Ohio court, McDonald Hopkins confirmed a plan of reorganization designed to deliver a recovery to unsecured creditors and preserve ownership for the equity holders.
• InaCom Corp. (Wilmington, Delaware) Leading single-source provider of information technology product and services to Fortune 1000 clients; over $6.5 billion of annual revenue. Served as special litigation counsel to the debtors and subsequent liquidation agent.
• GETRAG Transmission Manufacturing, LLC (Detroit, Michigan) Successful chapter 11 plan for entity with over $600 million in debt formed to manufacture transmissions for Chrysler before it terminated contract and filed chapter 11. 
• Engineered Plastic Products (Ypsilanti, Michigan; Lima, Ohio) Successful chapter 11 sale of this multi location Tier I plastics supplier. 
• National Archive Publishing Co. (Ann Arbor, Michigan) Leading provider of electronic and paper course material to universities and repository for historical news UPI data. Assisted client with advantageous sale of manufacturing operation to key customer and subsequent Article 9 sale of remaining operations and real estate to equity fund.