The Firm has represented Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., one of the nation’s largest builders of residential homes and a long-standing client of the Firm, in a series of debt restructuring transactions over the course of the year. First, the Firm represented Hovnanian in three concurrent cash tender offers, two of which were modified “Dutch auctions”, completed in July 2009. The Firm also recently represented Hovnanian in restructuring its secured bank and high yield debt profile. The transactions, which were cross-conditioned on one another, included cash tender offers and consent solicitations for Hovnanian’s existing second- and third-lien high yield notes and a cash tender offer for certain series of its unsecured high yield notes, the termination of its first priority secured revolving credit facility and the entry into certain stand-alone letter of credit facilities and a private placement offering of $785 million of first priority 10.625% Senior Secured Notes due 2016.
The Simpson Thacher team for the July tender offers included Vince Pagano, Marisa Stavenas and Folake Ayoola (Securities) and Jonathan Cantor and Amie Broder (Tax). The team for the other restructuring transactions included Vince Pagano, Marisa Stavenas, Bryan Yoon, Ryan Gavin, Elsa Wang and Jeemin Chung (Securities), Jennifer Hobbs, Vanessa Bressler and Jeremy Barr (Credit), Erik Hepler and Jim Cross (Collateral), Marcela Robledo (Intellectual Property), Adeeb Fadil (Environmental), Jonathan Cantor and Jennifer Klein (Tax), Mardi Merjian and Julia Ann Miller (Real Estate) and Jeanne Annarumma (Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits). Paralegals Brendan Derr, Matt Dresher, Brian Gartner, Dara Kanowitz and Tiffany Vacca provided valuable assistance.