Études de cas
J.S. Held consolide son expertise en matière de litiges financiers dans le domaine du droit de la famille grâce à l'acquisition de CMM, LLP
En savoir plusKaterra, Inc., a multi-billion-dollar, multi-national, vertically integrated construction company, filed for bankruptcy on June 6, 2021, in the Southern District of Texas. Prior to filing, the company operated in nine countries with more than $2.5B in capital and $1.75B in annual revenue. Following the Chapter 11 filing, debtor and creditor professionals were engaged, and the company remained in Chapter 11 for approximately four months before confirmation of a Joint Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization.
The confirmed Plan required the appointment of a Plan Administrator to oversee the liquidation of the bankruptcy estate and to administer distributions to creditors. On October 29, 2021, Daniel R. Williams of J.S. Held was appointed by the Bankruptcy Court as the Plan Administrator for Katerra, Inc. and its Wind-Down Debtors.
The decision to engage J.S. Held was supported by professionals across the restructuring, legal, and insurance communities, many with longstanding relationships. J.S. Held was selected to serve as both the Plan Administrator and the Financial Advisor to the Bankruptcy Estate after a pitch before the Oversight Committee and the Unsecured Creditor Committee, during which several other nationally recognized advisory firms were also considered.
The matter evolved into a highly complex, multi-jurisdictional engagement involving thousands of creditors, dozens of subsidiaries, foreign assets, and substantial claims litigation. The bankruptcy required the wind-down of 34 domestic entities, the dissolution of multiple foreign non-debtor affiliates, asset sales across multiple countries, and recovery efforts involving tens of millions of dollars in potential claims and disputes. The scope also included reconciliation of secured, priority, and unsecured claims; completion of remaining construction projects; evaluation of causes of insolvency; and resolution of accounting, financial reporting, and intercompany issues.
J.S. Held delivered an integrated, multidisciplinary team of financial and technical experts–spanning Turnaround & Restructuring, Economic Damages & Valuations, Construction Advisory, Surety Consulting, Intellectual Property, and Digital Investigations & Discovery–to support the Plan Administrator and the Bankruptcy Estate.
J.S. Held’s scope of engagement included:
In one of the largest construction bankruptcies in history, J.S. Held helped guide the wind-down of a global business facing extraordinary operational, financial, and legal challenges. Our integrated team supported stakeholders across multiple jurisdictions in navigating claims resolution, project completion, asset sales, and ongoing litigation. Our approach brought clarity and direction to a highly complex process. Throughout the engagement, counsel consistently recognized our ability to manage scale, sustain momentum, and deliver clear, well-reasoned guidance across competing priorities.
Expert Perspectives
"This matter required assembling a team with deep experience in bankruptcy liquidation, construction operations, asset divestiture, complex claims reconciliation, and navigating sophisticated bet-the-company level litigation. By integrating technical and financial experts across our team, we addressed the full range of challenges facing the multi-billion-dollar estate. Our coordinated efforts uncovered value, resolved disputes, and drove creditor recoveries far beyond initial expectations."
Andrew Short
Managing Director | Strategic Advisory
+1 480 717 6717
[e-mail protégé]
"Managing more than 100 TB of scattered data required custom workflows that could preserve, reduce, prioritize, and analyze information simultaneously. Our technical depth, AI capabilities, and nimble processes enabled us to turn overwhelming volumes of data into timely, actionable insights for counsel, the investigatory team, and the Plan Administrator."
Mike Gaudet
Directeur général principal - Enquêtes internationales
+1 346 509 5373
[e-mail protégé]
"A major challenge was uncovering and validating outstanding revenue opportunities across many open construction projects. This required technical construction expertise, an understanding of surety priorities, and rigorous financial analysis. By coordinating these strengths, we helped the Trustee capture value that might otherwise have been lost, ultimately improving the recovery for the creditor group."
Richard Sexton
Vice-président directeur | Responsable du cabinet de cautionnement
+1 407 753 1381
[e-mail protégé]
"Our team's ability to deploy deep subject-matter expertise across regions was a key differentiator on a bankruptcy of this scale. With a global footprint across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific, we delivered consistent technical and financial rigor and on-the-ground insight seamlessly across borders."
Mark Cohen
Senior Managing Director | Global Construction Advisory Practice Lead
+1 917 779 0132
[e-mail protégé]
"From the outset, this engagement required more than technical excellence-it required disciplined orchestration across construction operations, financial administration, litigation, data, and stakeholder interests on a global scale. Our role was to ensure those efforts operated as a single, coordinated execution model, enabling timely decisions, maintaining control in a highly scrutinized environment, and ultimately delivering outcomes that protected and maximized value for the estate and its creditors."
Daniel R. Williams, CPA, CTP
Senior Managing Director | Strategic Advisory
+1 602 396 7436
[e-mail protégé]
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