R3 Retail Insolvency Analysis

R3 recently announced their analysis of the impact of insolvencies in the retail sector since 2011 on jobs.

It is regrettable that there has been an insolvent outcome to some of the retail sector transactions that we have been involved in this year.  We have often helped our clients to pursue solvent solutions, which might have preserved a far greater number of jobs, but have been frustrated by stakeholders' inability achieve a consensus.  The complex capital structures adopted at the height of the credit boom regularly leave it open for stakeholders to seek to take advantage of flaws in legal documentation during negotiations, which can take time to resolve -- time which a cash-starved business in the retail sector may not have.  In those worst-case scenarios, as the R3 analysis seems to show, an insolvency process can provide the next best alternative under which to seek to preserve value and jobs.