Past
Winners
2007 II Winners
| 1st - |
University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School of Business) |
| 2nd - |
Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management) |
| 3rd - |
New York University Stern School of Business |
| 4th - |
University of Chicago |
2007 Winners
| 1st - |
Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management) |
| 2nd - |
Duke University (The Fuqua School of Business) |
| 3rd - |
University of California-Berkeley (Haas School of Business) |
| 4th - |
Stanford University (Stanford Graduate Business School) |
2005 Winners
| 1st - |
New York University Stern School of Business |
| 2nd - |
Stanford Graduate Business School |
| 3rd - |
University of Virginia (Darden School of Business) |
| 4th - |
Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management) |
NYU Wins Corp. Restructuring Competition
The Stern Graduate School of Business of New York University won the Second Annual ABI/Houlihan Lokey Corporate Restructuring Competition, defeating 11 other top business schools to win the Bettina M. Whyte trophy and $5,000 in prize money. The event was held held Nov. 11-13 at Northwestern Uni-versity¹s Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Ill. Finishing second this year was last year¹s champion, Stanford University (Sloan Graduate School of Business). The third-place team was the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, and the Kellogg School finished in fourth. Each of the four schools earned crystal trophies for their schools and cash awards for the individual team members. The first-place trophy is named for ABI¹s past president and current chair, who is a managing partner at AlixPartners LLP.
The competition provides second-year students with a unique chance to learn by solving a real-world restructuring case problem. The students had a week to ³solve² the problem and prepare comprehensive presentations showing their operational and financial plans before panels of judges representing senior company management and bondholders, with the final round before a mock board of directors. The judges were all experienced professionals at some of the top restructuring and financial firms in the country, including Fred Caruso (Development Specialists Inc.), Nancy Ross (High Ridge Partners), David Shapiro (LaSalle Bank), Anthony Schnelling (Bridge Associates), Renee Rempe (Antares Capital), Brian Schinderle (Wolf Point Capital), Rebecca Roof (AlixPartners), Philip Van Winkle (Giuliani Capital Advisors), R. Bruce Blackwell (MBIA Insurance Corp.), Jon Nash (Corporate Revitalization Partners), David Heller (Delaware Street Capital), Jeffrey Werbalowsky (Houlihan Lokey), Melissa Kibler Knoll (Mesirow Financial), Thomas Morrow (AlixPartners) and Henry Ritter (Moglia Associates). The final-round judges were Chuck Cremens (Conseco Financial), Sandy McNally (Hammond Kennedy Whitney & Co.) and Georgia Nelson (Cummins Engine & Tower Automotive board member), along with Becky Roof and Jeff Werbalowsky. Geoff Richards of Kirkland & Ellis (Chicago) prepared a series of papers to help the students understand the legal issues involved in the case.
Kathleen Ligocki, a veteran restructuring professional involved in the auto industry and now the president and CEO of Tower Automotive, presented the keynote dinner address. Read it here.
Matthew R. Niemann, the managing director of Houlihan Lokey and a key organizer of the event, praised the students preparation, execution and poise under real-world pressure. This years problem was especially challenging, but the students did an excellent job under deadline pressure, demonstrating the kind of skills that will serve them well in the future."
Other schools competing were the University of Michigan (Ross School of Business), Duke University (Fuqua School of Business), Columbia University Business School, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, University of California-Berkeley (Haas School of Business), Yale University School of Management and University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School of Business).
2004 Winners
| 1st - |
Stanford
Graduate Business School |
| 2nd - |
University
of Michigan, Ross School of Business |
| 3rd - |
New York
University Stern School of Business |
| 4th - |
Darden
Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia |
November 17, 2004, Alexandria, Va.
Stanford
University’s
Graduate School of Business won the 2004 Bettina M. Whyte Trophy
as the top business school in the American Bankruptcy Institute’s
(ABI) first annual ABI/Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin Corporate
Restructuring Competition. The event was held at the Kellogg School
of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago, Nov. 9–11.
The students also took home the top cash prize of $5,000 and crystal
trophies for their school and themselves. The Ross School of Business
at the University of Michigan won the second prize. New York University’s
Stern School of Business finished in third place, and the University
of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business earned fourth
place.
The event matched
second-year MBA students at eight of the nation's
elite business schools. The students had one week to solve a complex
reorganization problem and make presentations to panels of judges
representing bank interests, senior bondholders and corporate boards.
Other schools competing were the University of Chicago Business School,
the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania,
the Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley
and the Kellogg School of Management.
“By institutionalizing this type of hands-on learning experience,
the turnaround industry benefits because of exposure to the complexity
of crafting a restructuring solution when so many constituencies
are involved,” said Bettina Whyte, principal at AlixPartners
LLC and ABI’s Immediate Past President. “It will also
produce more well-rounded managers in general because it helps students
realize that in business today everything is open to change.”
Corporate executives,
senior lenders and workout professionals served as the judges:
Eric Baer (Citadel Investment Group), Bruce Blackwell
(MBIA Insurance Corp.), Timothy Collins (Northwestern Mutual Life
Ins.), Norma Corio (JP Morgan Chase), Chuck Cremens (Conseco Financial),
John Keller (The Keller Group), Andrew Sandy McNally (Hammond, Kennedy,
Whitney & Co.), Nancy Ross (High Ridge Partners), James Schaeffer
(Aegon USA Investment Management), Brian Schinderle (hedge fund manager),
Anthony H.N. Schnelling (Bridge Associates), David Shapiro (LaSalle
Bank), Nancy Shanik (Citibank), Phil Van Winkle (Ernst & Young
Corporate Finance) and Jeffrey Werbalowsky (Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin).
Steve Miller, noted CEO for some of America’s leading turnarounds,
was the keynote guest speaker.
