Foley Partner Gardner Davis was quoted in an article that appeared in The Bond Buyer on November 1, 2010 titled “Seller in Rare Deal Goes Through Bankruptcy Court.” Davis discusses AmericanWest Bancorp.’s announced sale of its banking subsidiary to a heavily capitalized investor group in a bankruptcy court bidding procedure. He states that the bankruptcy court has the ability to wipe out the bank holding company’s contractual commitments, which would be breached by a change of control in the bank subsidiary. Davis adds that absent the bankruptcy court approval, the board of the bank holding company could potentially be sued for failing to discharge its fiduciary duties with the sale of the bank.
