Wednesday, February 11, 2009
NEW YORK, February 11, 2009 -- Berkery Noyes and Seneca Financial Group are pleased to announce the formation of a strategic partnership to advise companies seeking restructuring advisory services in the global information, media, marketing services, and related technology areas. Berkery Noyes has successfully provided M&A services to this market for over 20 years. Seneca Financial Group has been providing restructuring advice to companies since it’s founding in 1993.
John Shea, Chief Operating Officer of Berkery Noyes commented, on the formation of the partnership: “In the current uncertain economic environment, companies find themselves in need of these services for many reasons. We believe the likelihood of a successful restructuring is greatly enhanced by having a team comprised of professionals who understand a business and its industry in a granular sense and the capability to devise and implement a successful restructuring plan.”
James Harris, founder and CEO of Seneca said: “The fundamentals of the restructuring business have changed in profound ways over the past four years. Important alterations were made to the bankruptcy code four years ago which make it very difficult for a company to successfully reorganize under the court’s supervision. In addition, there is a dearth of financing for companies who want to restructure. This has reinforced the need to identify and address problems promptly. There simply is no time for ‘on the job training’ when analysts are rotated from other disciplines to restructuring. John and I both feel an advisor needs to be aware that time is of the essence in restructuring under current conditions.”
Seneca Financial was founded by James Harris in 1993 to focus exclusively on restructuring advisory services. Prior to founding Seneca, Mr. Harris was a Managing Director at Lehman Brothers and headed the firm’s restructuring advisory services. Prior to joining Lehman in 1982, Mr. Harris was a senior lending officer at Citibank N.A. where he worked with Mr. Shea.
Berkery Noyes has completed over 450 M&A transactions since its founding by Joseph Berkery in 1988. Since its inception, Berkery Noyes has focused its efforts on the information and media industries. During that time, Berkery Noyes has worked with private owners, private equity firms and public companies to assess value and complete transactions to realize value.
Berkery Noyes and Seneca will focus their efforts to provide restructuring advisory services on middle market leaders in the education, health, pharma, B2B, and financial service industries. These services will include development of business models to reflect the realities of the current economic and financial marketplace, as well as dealing with balance sheets that are over-leveraged by today’s standards. Mr. Shea commented: “The companies in these sectors are experiencing rapid change and are challenged by the chaotic state of the capital markets. We will bring a sense of urgency to developing alternatives grounded in realistic assessments and expectations for the future.”
Mr. Harris added: “Given current conditions, any company that can perform an objective self-analysis with the aid of professionals and transform itself into a consistent generator of cash and earnings will move to the head of the pack in its respective industry. Bankruptcy will not be the answer, but applying many of the disciplines inherent in the bankruptcy process will prove helpful.”
Both Berkery Noyes and Seneca will continue to service existing clients in their respective businesses as well as continue to seek out business opportunities in their respective markets.
Please see the attached exhibit for recent Berkery Noyes & Seneca Financial advisory assignments.
John Shea, Chief Operating Officer of Berkery Noyes, will be leading the marketing effort of the partnership. His contact information is as follows:
John Shea
Chief Operating Officer
Berkery, Noyes & Co., LLC
(212) 668-3022
john.shea@berkerynoyes.com
