Restructuring case study prep

I've never encountered an 8 hour case before (and hope I never do haha), but below are a few of the restructuring case studies I've seen given out in the past. Note that in addition to the below, restructuring groups sometimes give out rights offering cases as well, so you might want to be on the lookout for one of those. 

If you have additional questions or want interview prep resources, PM me.

1) Capital Structure Analysis

This is a common case given out by restructuring groups to gauge a candidate's ability to assess potential restructuring triggers. Essentially, you'd be given a Company's capital structure/liquidity profile and would have to provide your take on the Company's financial health and if you think there is an imminent restructuring that could occur.

A good way to practice this is by going to Finviz, then screening by companies whose stock price has declined by ~75% over the past year and have a high debt/equity ratio, then looking up their capital structure in their lastest 10-Q/10-K (Long-Term Debt section of the filing). From there, come up with an initial thesis if you think this company is a promising restructuring prospect or not. Then to "check" your work, search for a credit ratings report by either S&P or Moody's on the Company. You can find S&P reports via CapIQ ("Credit Research" section, filter "Type" by "Research Updates" to find the latest report) and you can find Moody's reports by just googling the Company's name and then "Moody's". From here, check what S&P/Moody's call out (e.g., do they specifically say this company is likely to be restructured and provide details on how the situation came to be, or do they say the company has plenty of liquidity and could refinance easily, etc.).

2) Exchange & Recap Offer Case

This case would test your ability to model debt-for-debt and debt-for-equity scenarios into a model. You'd be given an excel with a company's capital structure and financials (could be just a financial summary or all three statements, depends on the case) and a brief descriptions of the debt-for-debt and debt-for-equity scenarios. Usuaully, the debt-for-debt scenarios will be replacing existing debt with new debt (most likely structured as a discounted exchange) and the debt-for-equity would just be deleveraging via an equity offering with less than 100% participation.