Kenneth P. Kansa

• Represented a publicly-traded US/UK auto parts manufacturer and 156 affiliates as lead counsel in connection with their U.S. chapter 11 proceedings and English-law administration proceedings, which successfully established claimants’ trusts to address over $9 billion in current and future asbestos-related claims in both the US and UK, as well as funded debt in excess of $4 billion and UK pension liabilities estimated at over $2 billion. These proceedings were among the largest chapter 11 proceedings ever commenced in the US, and the concurrent administration of the UK subsidiaries was one of the largest in UK history.*
• Represented as lead structuring and transaction counsel a publicly-traded manufacturer of respirators and safety gear as lead counsel on the $375 million sale of its mixed-dust (asbestos, silica, coal dust) and other product liability claims to a strategic purchaser, resulting in the permanent removal of all such liabilities from the company’s financial statements.*
• Acted as lead counsel on the product liability-driven chapter 11 case of a valve and flow control products manufacturer, resulting in the establishment of a $300 million trust to address current and future asbestos-related claims.*
• Advised a publicly-traded manufacturer of auto parts as lead counsel on the optimization of its corporate structure to address over $750 million in asbestos-related claims, which culminated in the sale of the claim-affected business to a strategic purchaser.*
• Represented a national print and broadcast media company and 133 of its affiliates in their chapter 11 proceedings as lead bankruptcy counsel, involving the restructuring of over $13 billion in funded debt.*
• Represented a Major League Baseball franchise as lead bankruptcy counsel in its chapter 11 case and the subsequent disposition of a majority interest in the franchise to a new owner through the bankruptcy proceedings.*
• Represented a publicly-traded newspaper publisher and media company and its affiliates as lead counsel in negotiating and securing approval for a prepackaged chapter 11 plan of reorganization, involving the consensual restructuring of over $1 billion in secured debt.* 
• Represented a syndicate of pre-bankruptcy lenders in connection with a $90.7 million secured claim relating to a synthetic lease facility in the chapter 11 case of a US-based global auto manufacturer.*
• Represented a purchaser of the Chinese business of a leading US flooring manufacturer in acquiring the business out of the manufacturer’s chapter 11 case.*

*These matters occurred prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg.