DLA Piper receives 2021 TMA Turnaround/Transaction of the Year Award for representation of Valeritas in first COVID-19-related chapter 11 case

DLA Piper is pleased to announce that the firm has received a 2021 TMA Turnaround/Transaction of the Year Award from the Turnaround Management Association (TMA), the largest nonprofit serving corporate renewal and restructuring professionals worldwide, for its representation of medical device company Valeritas Holdings Inc. in the first chapter 11 case citing the COVID-19 pandemic as a factor leading to the bankruptcy. The matter won a 2021 TMA Turnaround/Transaction of the Year award in the Small Company Turnaround/Transaction category.

The firm represented Valeritas Holdings Inc. in its chapter 11 case in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The case was filed consensually with the support of Valeritas’s prepetition lender, as well as with committed debtor-in-possession financing of US$12 million and a stalking horse purchase agreement for Zealand Pharma A/S to acquire substantially all assets of Valeritas in a going concern sale. Following a bid process, the bankruptcy court approved the sale to Zealand Pharma A/S for US$23 million, along with the assumption of certain liabilities related to the ongoing business. The debtors and the prepetition lender reached a settlement with the creditors’ committee on the terms of a plan of liquidation, and the company’s chapter 11 plan was confirmed in June 2020.

DLA Piper partner Rachel Ehrlich Albanese was also recognized by TMA for her role leading the firm’s team that advised Valeritas. The team also included partners Emilio Ragosa (Short Hills) and Craig Martin (Wilmington) and associates Gregory Juell, Nathan Sheps (both of New York), Matthew Sarna (Wilmington), Virginia Callahan (Baltimore) and Oliver Newman (Philadelphia), among others.

DLA Piper's Restructuring team has significant experience advising clients on investigation, enforcement, litigation and asset recovery on a multi-jurisdictional basis. The firm advises on all matters relating to public and private companies in underperforming and distressed situations, serving a diverse client base that includes debtors, lenders, government entities, equity owners, trustees, shareholders and senior executives, as well as distressed debt and asset buyers and investors.