Christopher K. Coleman

• Represented Paceline Equity Partners and certain affiliates of its portfolio company, AHF Products, as prepetition secured lender and successful stalking horse purchaser of a Cartersville, Georgia-based manufacturer of rigid core flooring in the Chapter 11 cases of Wellmade Floor Coverings International, Inc.
• Served as Debtors' counsel to Red Lobster Management LLC, a seafood casual dining chain, in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the Middle District of Florida and companion proceedings in Canada.
• Representing Corebridge Institutional Investments as prepetition administrative agent in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases of F-Star Socorro, L.P. and affiliates
• Represented Trive Capital and its portfolio company, Cascade Services, as successful stalking horse purchaser of East Coast Mechanical (South Florida's largest air conditioning, plumbing, electrical, and home warranty business) in the Chapter 11 cases of AFH Air Pros, LLC.
• Advised funds managed by a private credit lender in connection with the restructuring of multiple fund finance facilities.
• Represented AHF Products in its acquisition of certain operating lumber mills pursuant to a federal receivership in the Northern District of West Virginia.
• Advised an operator of electric vehicle charging stations in connection with the winding down of its North American business operations.

Chris Coleman advises lenders, agents, and investors across the capital structure on secured and unsecured financings, and on the workouts, restructurings, and insolvency proceedings that follow when a credit comes under stress. He structures and documents credit facilities, and enforces them when defaults occur, giving clients a practical and user-friendly approach to the opportunities and considerations in distressed situations.

Chris represents lenders and agents, as well as borrowers, sponsors, and asset buyers. His work runs from origination through enforcement and recovery, and he regularly advises on:

• Secured financings, including senior secured, unitranche, first lien/second lien, and asset-based facilities, together with the related intercreditor and subordination arrangements
• Distressed credit scenarios, including default planning, remedies analysis, and response strategies
• Liability management transactions and other out-of-court restructurings, including debt-to-equity conversions and exchange offers
• Special situations lending, including recapitalizations, debtor-in-possession, rescue, and exit financings
• In-court restructurings, including pre-packaged, pre-arranged, and free-fall Chapter 11 cases, cross-border and Chapter 15 proceedings, and federal and state court receiverships
• Distressed acquisitions, whether through Section 363 sales, Article 9 and other foreclosure sales, or out-of-court transactions
• Opportunistic investing and strategic transactions, including non-performing loan and portfolio acquisitions, distress-to-control positions, spin-offs, divestitures, and wind-downs

Chris is often called upon to structure and document credit facilities at the outset. Given his restructuring background, he brings a working knowledge of how credit agreements, creditor remedies, intercreditor provisions, and different asset classes perform under stress. Clients draw on that background when structuring new transactions, responding to defaults, and negotiating among creditor groups and with borrowers and sponsors.

A proud University of Tennessee alum, Chris began his legal career serving as a law clerk for the Honorable Marcia Phillips Parsons of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. He is also active in his community and currently serves as Secretary of the Chapter, the governing body of the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, Georgia.