Announcing Reorg Research

For as long as I can remember, research and analysis of distressed debt has been an archaic process involving tedious and manual work, pulling information from a variety of disparate, untimely and incomplete sources. Thousands upon thousands of hours are wasted by the buy side and sell side searching and locating specific dockets in numerous cases which currently entails a painful process where oftentimes important updates to bankruptcy cases are missed. Time that should be spent analyzing is instead time spent wasted looking for answers.

In July 2009, I wrote on the blog:

"I check Pacer and various Court Dockets so many times it makes me sick: No seriously. It is such a tedious process. If anyone knows a way to automate this or wants to start a company that automates this with me, let me know. This is important because rulings move markets, new information from court filings move markets, you want to be ahead of the news."

I searched far and wide for solutions to my problems. The option set was limited at best, and most were very heavy modules targeted to the legal community. None were designed with a finance professional in mind: what information we need, when we need, how we would use it.

So I built it myself.

Beginning in the 1Q 2012, I worked with a variety of people in the U.S. Government along with an incredible set of developers to build what I think is a complete game-changer for the distressed debt industry. In 4Q 2012, I invited a group comprised of DDIC members, some of the largest distressed funds in the world, as well as leading investment banks and financial advisors to the closed beta. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Currently approximately 100 firms are using the site on a daily basis. And now I'm ready to open the site to the public:

I encourage all who are interested in testing the site to request a trial on the site here: Reorg Research Trial Page.

To give you a quick sample here are just a few of the benefits from our Docket service:

 

(click to enlarge)

What are Some of the Features of Reorg Research Docket Product?

• Ability to track many bankruptcies dockets in one location
• Near real time alerts to new docket entries for the cases you are following
• A filtering mechansim I built myself that reduces some of the noise inherent in bankrupcy dockets (pro hac vice admissions, certificates of mailing, etc)
• Ability to download documents directly from Pacer with a simple click of a button
• One of the most powerful search functions ever created in bankruptcy. Want to search what Elliott is buying in the claims space? We can do that:

• Or maybe you want to do a fee comp study for an engagement you are working on as banker? We can do that in minutes. You can search across all cases or just one case at a time. You will be able to find information faster than ever.
• A daily summary email option: Not involved in a case but want to stay on top of it? We will send you the docket items (with filtering) on the cases on a daily basis
• Are you a hedge fund that wants to follow a docket but doesn't want others to see it on Reorg Research? I am fulfilling the request daily for funds. With the ability to track SO many case in one spot, hedge funds are able to leverage their analysts better and look at more opportunities in smaller cases.

And that's just the the docket product: Other features of Reorg Research

• Calendar of all bankruptcy hearings, with attached agenda items, for the cases in our system that you are tracking
• A relational database with every professional firm involved in a case along with professional level detail (banker's name, email address, and phone number) for those actively on the case
• Monthly operating reports in Excel format for you to easily download instead of recreating the wheel
• Key filings (First day affidavit, plan or reorgs, disclosure statement) in one convenient space

As we move through the first quarter, Reorg Research's services and offering will be expanding: As some of you saw, I have been actively hiring distressed debt analysts and reporters to cover situations in and out of the court room. Our first full time reporter, Max Frumes, was most recently at S&P LCD covering pre-bankruptcy situations. Max will be out there breaking stories in the pre bankruptcy space and most of his content will be going on Reorg Research (he's writing there as we speak). In addition to reporting, me and my team of analysts will be providing opinions on distressed situations, tear sheets so you can quickly get up to speed on cases, real time alerts on court proceedings and important decisions, legal analysis on vital bankruptcy dockets and the potential affects on securities valuation, and a portfolio manager summary that highlights the main drivers of value in a case.

For questions on Reorg Research, please reach out to me with an email or a call. I am actively visiting clients or talking with them on the phone on a daily basis and walking them through some of the features and benefits on the site.

Simply put: Reorg Research is a game changer for professionals in the distressed debt space. We are saving our subscribers precious time and money and streamlining their research process in revolutionary ways.

For more information or to request a trial, visit our home page here: Reorg Research