Nathan Felton
Overview
Experience
Representative Matters
WeWork, Inc. — Representation of WeWork, Inc. and its debtor affiliates — the leading global flexible space provider — in their Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. With approximately $17 billion in funded debt and lease obligations at the time of filing and posing complex, novel issues of international, regulatory and foreign law, WeWork, with over 500 entities, is one of the largest jointly administered Chapter 11 cases in history. Through its Chapter 11 cases, WeWork was able to equitize all $4.3 billion of its funded indebtedness, right size its lease portfolio and reduce future obligations by $11 billion as the result of a pioneering strategy for rent negotiations, facilitate a global settlement with numerous stakeholders and navigate complex cross-border issues.
Appgate, Inc. — Representation of Appgate, Inc. (APGT) and 11 of its subsidiaries (“Appgate”) in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Appgate is an industry leader in secure network access, providing an innovative suite of cybersecurity solutions and advisory services to more than 660 leading private enterprises and government agencies around the world. Pursuant to Appgate’s confirmed Chapter 11 plan, Appgate obtained $18 million in additional liquidity, emerged as a private company, and was able to quickly address its unsustainable debt load by entirely deleveraging its balance sheet.
Invitae Corporation — Representation of Invitae Corporation and certain of its affiliates in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. Invitae is headquartered in San Francisco, California and is a leader in the genetic testing field. Prior to commencing Chapter 11, Invitae secured support to implement a go-forward sale process by signing a transaction support agreement with a significant majority of its secured noteholders. Invitae is a publicly traded company and listed approximately $1.5 billion in funded debt obligations as of the petition date.
Rite Aid Corporation — Representation of Rite Aid Corporation (“Rite Aid”) and 119 of its affiliates in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. As one of the largest pharmacy chains in the United States, Rite Aid employs over 45,000 people, including 6,100 pharmacists in 2,100 retail pharmacy locations across 17 states. Through Elixir, its pharmacy benefit management business, Rite Aid manages pharmacy benefits for more than one million members through accredited specialty and mail-order pharmacies. Following months of negotiations, Rite Aid entered Chapter 11 with access to approximately $3.45 billion in committed post-petition DIP financing provided by its existing bank lenders and an agreement in principle with a majority of its secured bondholders on the terms of a comprehensive restructuring to delever its $4 billion debt load and right-size its operational footprint.
SmileDirectClub, Inc. — Representation of SmileDirectClub, Inc. and eight of its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. SmileDirect is an industry leader in telehealth-driven clear aligner therapy with approximately $900 million in funded debt. Through its Chapter 11 cases, the Company obtained access to up to $80 million of debtor-in-possession financing and will seek to implement a going concern transaction following a comprehensive marketing process.
West Marine, Inc. — Representation of West Marine, Inc. and its affiliates, the nation’s leading omnichannel provider in the marine aftermarket, in multiple transactions, including a comprehensive out-of-court restructuring of its existing capital structure supported by 100 percent of the Company’s existing lenders and its equity sponsor. The comprehensive transaction delevered the Company’s funded indebtedness by more than $500 million, provided the Company access to $125 million of new money term loan financing, and left trade claims unimpaired.
Cyxtera Technologies Inc. — Representation of Cyxtera Technologies Inc. (CYTX) and its affiliates (“Cyxtera”) in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. Cyxtera is a Nasdaq-traded global leader in data center colocation and interconnection services, providing an innovative suite of connected and intelligently-automated infrastructure and interconnection solutions to more than 2,300 leading enterprises, service providers, and government agencies around the world. Cyxtera filed for Chapter 11 protection in June 2023 with over $1 billion in funded debt obligations and over $1 billion in long-term lease obligations to pursue a sale transaction and/or a recapitalization transaction as contemplated under a Restructuring Support Agreement supported by a supermajority of its existing first lien lenders. Cyxtera also filed with a $200 million committed DIP financing facility provided by certain of its first lien lenders.
QualTek Services Inc. — Representation of QualTek Services Inc. and its subsidiaries in their Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. QualTek is a provider of infrastructure services and renewable energy project solutions to the North American telecommunications and power industries. With Kirkland’s assistance, QualTek’s fully consensual comprehensive restructuring will reduce the company’s total debt by nearly half, from approximately $625 million to approximately $318 million, substantially increase QualTek’s cash on hand, and strengthen its liquidity position.
Avaya Holdings Corp. — Representation of Avaya Holdings Corp. and its affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Avaya Holdings Corp., (“Avaya”) is a global leader in solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration. With overwhelming consensus from Avaya’s secured lenders and the support of its other key stakeholders, Avaya confirmed its prepackaged plan of reorganization just over a month after it commenced its Chapter 11 cases. The confirmed prepackaged plan reduced Avaya’s total debt by more than 75%, from approximately $3.4 billion to approximately $810 million, substantially increased Avaya’s liquidity position to approximately $650 million, decreased its net leverage to less than 1x, and provided substantial financial flexibility to accelerate Avaya’s investment in its innovative cloud-based communications portfolio. Avaya emerged from Chapter 11 protection as a privately held company approximately five weeks after the bankruptcy court confirmed Avaya’s prepackaged plan.
Pipeline Health System, LLC — Representation of Pipeline Health System, LLC and its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Pipeline Health operates seven “safety net” hospitals, three health clinics and three medical group centers across California, Texas and Illinois, including Weiss Memorial Hospital and West Suburban Medical Center in Chicago. Pipeline’s hospitals operate in historically underserved communities, and a significant percentage of its patients rely on Medicare, Medicaid and other governmental programs for health coverage. Pipeline Health came into the Chapter 11 proceedings with a plan of reorganization seeking to restructure over $600 million of financing obligations.
Prior Experience
Verizon Media
- Senior Manager, Strategy & Operations, 2018–2019
- Chief of Staff, 2017–2018
Yahoo Inc.
- Strategy & Operations Associate, 2015–2017
- Marketing Associate, 2015
Product and Sales Specialist, Tesla Motors, 2012–2014
Obama for America, Field Organizer, 2012
Pro Bono
More
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- 2023New York
Education
- University of Pennsylvania Carey Law SchoolJ.D.cum laude2022
Associate Editor, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law
Semi-Finalist, Edwin R. Keedy Moot Court Competition
Committee Member, Wharton Restructuring & Distressed Investing Conference
- Wharton School of the University of PennsylvaniaCertificate in Management2021
- The George Washington UniversityB.A., Organizational Sciencessumma cum laude2014