Gregory S. Milligan, CTP
Executive Vice President
Education & Qualifications
Bachelor of Arts in Economics, University of Texas
Texas Real Estate License
Certified Turnaround Professional
Membership & Community
Executive Council, State Bar of Texas Bankruptcy Law Section
Board Member, TMA Central Texas
National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees
American Bankruptcy Institute
Association of Fraud Examiners
Commercial Finance Association
Court-Appointed Special Advocate and Guardian Ad Litem
Gregory S. Milligan, CTP
Executive Vice President
For more than 25 years, and with engagements involving onsite advisory to clients in more than 25 states and multiple foreign countries, Greg has maintained a practice surrounding troubled situations or situations that require fiduciary oversight. He joined Harney Partners in 1998 and opened the Austin office in 2001. Since that time, he has both led and collaborated on engagements with highly successful outcomes, meriting multiple peer-review awards from the Turnaround Management Association and the M&A Advisor.
The common thread which runs throughout Greg’s career is his ability to enter a new and troubled situation to quickly develop an understanding of the situation, identify the key resources needed to achieve the best possible outcome, develop multiple strategic alternatives toward that outcome, and manage the personnel and other resources required to execute the selected plan – all while developing working relationships with necessary stakeholder constituencies. The entire Harney team operates with the urgency and discipline necessary to achieve timely, thoughtful and constructive solutions.
Representative Engagements
Chief Restructuring Officer
- Chief Restructuring Officer and President of Austin Bergstrom Landhost Enterprises, Inc., a non-profit public facilities corporation acting as an instrumentality of the City of Austin to operate the Hilton Austin Airport Hotel, a four-story facility with 262 guest rooms and 18,000 square feet of meeting space located adjacent to the passenger terminal at Austin Bergstrom International Airport. A settlement was achieved with a vulture bondholder fund to refinance $60MM of bond debt for $30MM through the issuance of $45.6MM of new bonds, which provided capital to renovate the property and for other purposes.
- Chief Restructuring Officer of Galveston Bay Properties, LLC, an E&P company and debtor in a Chapter 11 case pending in San Antonio, Texas with approximately 20,000 acres under lease from the State of Texas in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico with 124 well bores and 23 producing wells during the case. Approximately two months after being appointed as CRO, a plan was confirmed that converted $3.56MM of DIP loans to equity and infused another $3.44MM of cash into the debtor at the Effective Date for additional equity. The total investment of $7MM obtained a controlling stake in both the debtor and its affiliated company that operated the fields. The Plan also provided for the repayment of all debt to all creditors.
- Chief Restructuring Officer of Oxane Materials, Inc., a Chapter 11 debtor in Houston, Texas that raised approximately $150MM in equity, and at the time of filing owed more than $40MM in senior and subordinated secured debt. The company designed and produced a nanotechnology ceramic proppant used in oil and gas “fracking,” but the operations never achieved sufficient volume and economies of scale to reach a profitable cost structure prior to the macroeconomic downturn in that industry. As a result, operations were ceased, and an orderly wind down was conducted through a Chapter 11 proceeding wherein the intellectual property was sold to Halliburton Energy Services and the Houston research labs and Arkansas manufacturing facility were sold to Chemject International.
- Chief Restructuring Officer of, and independent Board Member to, First Choice Pet Care, Inc. operating as “The Corner Vet” with nine (9) limited service veterinarian clinics in the Dallas and Houston markets providing pet owners a high-quality, reasonably-priced alternative to traditional high-cost veterinary care. This matter involved an out-of-court recapitalization of the company through a second round of investor financing.
Restructuring Advisor (Out-of-Court)
- Out-of-Court Restructuring Advisor to Chicago-based Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, the largest statewide social service agency in the State of Illinois. Due to the state’s inability to pass a budget to pay LSSI for its contracted services, the agency was incurring cash losses of $5MM per year when Harney was engaged. After closing certain operations which were not receiving payment from the state, transitioning 800 employees to new service providers to maintain continuity of care for all clients, eliminating unprofitable programs, right-sizing headcount, curbing excess spending, selling and refinancing certain facilities, and diversifying revenue streams to reduce the reliance on the State, the $5MM cash loss was turned into a $3MM cash surplus, for an $8MM swing – in less than 6 months.
- Out-of-Court Restructuring Advisor to LongVANS, Inc. and its 14 related LLCs based in Green Bay, Wisconsin and operating within a six-state regional territory. The company and related entities had not been making debt service payments to multiple secured lenders for many months at the time of Harney’s engagement. After gaining the cooperation of 10 secured lenders operating without any inter-creditor agreements, many of which maintained pending foreclosure actions, and an active trade creditor group with 8 judgments and 14 pending lawsuits, a going-concern sale process was completed that paid all secured creditors at closing, paid all trade creditors in full, and returned a dividend to the investor class. This engagement was recognized by both the Turnaround Management Association as Small Company Transaction of the Year and the M&A Advisor as the Divestiture of the Year.
Restructuring Advisor (Chapter 11)
- Chapter 11 Post-Confirmation Trustee for Warranty Gold, Ltd., representing the interests of 64,000 policy holders of a failed automotive extended warranty company. This engagement involved the direction of complex litigation against multiple third-party defendants both in the United States and the Cayman Islands, as well as the Chapter 11 claims adjudication process issuing payment to all 64,000 customers holding claims exceeding $50 million. As Trustee, Greg also served on the Creditors Committee in the Cayman Island insolvency proceeding of National Warranty Insurance Risk Retention Group, which was the administrator and insurer of Warranty Gold’s extended vehicle service contracts.
- Restructuring Advisor and Post-Confirmation Trustee to Wick Building Systems, Inc., a Chapter 11 debtor in Madison, Wisconsin. This matter involved the closure of two unprofitable divisions and the operation/sale of a third, profitable division, after an extensive §363 sale process. The “crash landing” Chapter 11 filing was precipitated by the senior secured lender sweeping the company’s seven-figure account balance due to concerns as to whether the company had the ability to repay the principal balance owed on the loan facility; however, after a successful sale process, an 80% dividend was returned to the unsecured creditors of all three divisions from the sale proceeds of only one division. The ultimate buyer was the namesake founder of the business and minority owner on the date of filing, who continues the family business today.The efforts in this case were recognized by our industry peers through receipt of the Community Impact Deal of the Year by the M&A Advisor.
- Chapter 11 Restructuring Advisor to InGEAR Corporation, a Chicago-based $70 million contract manufacturer of luggage, sports bags, and backpacks for private label brands sold at Target, Kohl’s, J. C. Penney, Walmart, and K-Mart. The company also held licenses to manufacture the same product lines for Champion, Spalding, Coleman, Hummer, Rubbermaid, and Laura Ashley. This engagement involved the orderly wind down of activities in both the U.S. and Asia, a §363 asset sale in Chapter 11, as well as the identification of financial and collateral reporting irregularities by the debtor’s management.
Chapter 11 Operating Trustee
- Chapter 11 Operating Trustee for Harriett Heep-Schaffer in Austin, Texas in a high-profile and highly contentious bankruptcy case involving real property valued at more than $30 million After litigation and negotiations to clear clouds on the title, and defending a toll road condemnation proceeding, a plan was developed to obtain exit financing which provided sufficient funding to pay all creditors 100%, plus interest. This left ownership of the property with the Debtor, who ultimately realized an eight-figure net return.
Chapter 11 Post-Confirmation Trustee and Plan Trustee
- Chapter 11 Post-Confirmation Trustee for Warranty Gold, Ltd., representing the interests of 64,000 policy holders of a failed automotive extended warranty company. This engagement involved the direction of complex litigation against multiple third-party defendants both in the United States and the Cayman Islands, as well as the Chapter 11 claims adjudication process issuing payment to all 64,000 customers holding claims exceeding $50 million. As Trustee, Greg also served on the Creditors Committee in the Cayman Island insolvency proceeding of National Warranty Insurance Risk Retention Group, which was the administrator and insurer of Warranty Gold’s extended vehicle service contracts.
- Restructuring Advisor and Post-Confirmation Trustee to Wick Building Systems, Inc., a Chapter 11 debtor in Madison, Wisconsin. This matter involved the closure of two unprofitable divisions and the operation/sale of a third, profitable division, after an extensive §363 sale process. The “crash landing” Chapter 11 filing was precipitated by the senior secured lender sweeping the company’s seven-figure account balance due to concerns as to whether the company had the ability to repay the principal balance owed on the loan facility; however, after a successful sale process, an 80% dividend was returned to the unsecured creditors of all three divisions from the sale proceeds of only one division. The ultimate buyer was the namesake founder of the business and minority owner on the date of filing, who continues the family business today.The efforts in this case were recognized by our industry peers through receipt of the Community Impact Deal of the Year by the M&A Advisor.
- Chapter 11 Restructuring Advisor to InGEAR Corporation, a Chicago-based $70 million contract manufacturer of luggage, sports bags, and backpacks for private label brands sold at Target, Kohl’s, J. C. Penney, Walmart, and K-Mart. The company also held licenses to manufacture the same product lines for Champion, Spalding, Coleman, Hummer, Rubbermaid, and Laura Ashley. This engagement involved the orderly wind down of activities in both the U.S. and Asia, a §363 asset sale in Chapter 11, as well as the identification of financial and collateral reporting irregularities by the debtor’s management.
State Court Receiver
- State Court Receiver for Incline Global Technology Services, Ltd., a high-tech service company located in Round Rock, Texas, adjacent to its major customer, Dell Computer. IGTS was the subsidiary of a UK entity “in administration,” which is an insolvency process under the management of a court-appointed administrator. The assignment involved the operation of the business for a period while the orderly wind down and sale was arranged and closed with Jabil Circuit, a Fortune 200 company, which allowed the retention of all 140 local jobs. Finally, Greg was able to negotiate a consensual reduction in the unsecured claim of the parent company in the UK against IGTS from $41 million to $0, which allowed for a 52% dividend to unsecured creditors.
- State Court Receiver for House Savings Investment and AA House Savings Financial, two mortgage processing companies in Houston, Texas, or “Money Service Businesses” (as defined by Texas Statute), with approximately 18,000 customers, which were sued by the Texas Attorney General and the Texas Department of Banking for failing to account for millions of dollars of consumer trust funds and operating a money service business without a license. After running the businesses for a period, it was determined that rehabilitation was not possible if the companies were to operate within the requirements of all relevant regulations. As such, an orderly wind down was conducted of both companies in a manner that insured all active customers’ mortgage payments were timely remitted during the transition. A forensic investigation was conducted to identity defrauded customers, the sources and uses of embezzled consumer trust funds, the location and liquidation of recoverable assets, and the development of an equitable claims and distribution process. Ultimately, funds were traced through 32 different insider bank accounts to the purchase of eight (8) real properties with misappropriated customer funds, which were recovered from the insiders and sold for the benefit of defrauded customers.
- State Court Receiver for Warr Investment Group, Warr International Group and sixteen (16) other persons and entities sued by the Texas Attorney General and the Texas State Securities Board for selling unregistered securities by unlicensed dealers and though various means of fraud. An orderly wind down was conducted for the assets of each entity and a forensic investigation was conducted to identity affected investors, the source and use of investor funds, the location and liquidation of all recoverable assets, and the development of an equitable claims and distribution process. In the end, investors received a dividend of 44.4% on their investment claims, which is well above the national average for Ponzi scheme recoveries. Greg provided his investigative findings to the State Board of Securities and testified at the trial of the companies’ principal, James E. Warr, resulting in a conviction on four first-degree felony counts of theft, securities fraud, money laundering, and misapplication of fiduciary property. Mr. Warr was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
- State Court Receiver for Austin Baccus Company, Inc., the exclusive online domestic retailer of refurbished Dyson vacuum cleaners through its warehouse showroom and multiple online sales channels, including eBay and Amazon, as well as its own website. The assignment involved the orderly winddown and liquidation of the online warehouse business, as well as a going-concern sale of the defendant’s retail showroom and repair facility.
Orderly Wind Down + Liquidation Agent
- Advisor, with other members of Harney Partners, to ten-member bank syndicate related to its $350 million credit facility to Neuman Distributors, Inc., which was the 6th largest drug and pharmaceutical products wholesaler in the United States at that time, with annual sales of $2.5 billion in the year the engagement began. With primary operations in New York and New Jersey, Greg lead the onsite efforts at the various distribution centers to supervise the orderly wind down and liquidation of approximately $250 million of pharmaceutical assets located across four (4) states. These efforts also lead to the discovery of undisclosed inventory fraud approaching $10 million and a post-liquidation Chapter 7 proceeding.
- Sole director, as appointed by the U. S. Bankruptcy Court, of Esperada Holdings, a registered and domiciled Cayman Island corporation, whereby Greg liquidated luxury cars, a yacht, a scuba boat, an apartment complex, and other assets located in the Cayman Islands for the benefit of creditors in the bankruptcy case pending in Austin, Texas.
- Trustee of the WaterRun Liquidation Trust where substantially all of the assets of the telecom hardware manufacturer were sold and the remnant assets were liquidated, including litigation claims, and a final distribution was made to all participants of the lending group.
Federal Court Receiver
- Federal Court Receiver In Re: Regent Park Capital, LLC, a hard money lender offering short-term commercial loans, commercial bridge loans, asset based loans and hard money loans. The assignment involved the sale of 40 acres of commercial real estate from a defaulted borrower.
Court-Appointed Neutral
- Appointed by State Court In Re: Kastleman vs. Kastleman to serve as Receiver over several limited partnerships, which involved seven figures of operating real estate in multiple cities around Texas in a contested divorce proceeding. Greg monitored all real estate operations on a real-time basis, and was given authority to approve certain operating transactions proposed by the parties, as well as to resolve disputes between the parties during the pendency of the case. Greg ultimately helped to facilitate a final settlement between the parties.
- Appointed by State Court In Re: Morton vs. Milam to serve as Receiver over all of the defendant’s personal assets in connection with plaintiff’s collection of a seven-figure judgment. The property of the receivership estate included interests in approximately 50 separate limited partnerships and limited liability corporations. After approximately 60 days of investigating Milam’s assets and making an initial report to the Court, Greg was able to assist the parties to reach a full and complete settlement of all pending claims and counterclaims.
- Appointed by Bankruptcy Court In Re: Seda France, Inc. as Trustee of the Seda France Equity Trust to hold the equity of the reorganized debtor in trust to secure full payment to allowed creditors and other compliance by the debtor with the confirmed plan. Greg monitored plan compliance, called multiple defaults to gain compliance with the confirmation order, and after a successful completion of the plan, released the stock being held in trust.
Recent Blog Posts & Presentations By Gregory S. Milligan, CTP
May 1, 2024
TMA Chicago Midwest Podcast Featuring Greg Milligan and Jim Keane | Decoding Receiverships
Podcast: Decoding Receiverships: Insights From Jim Keane and Greg Milligan of Harney Partners Listen to the latest TMA Chicago Midwest Podcast hosted by Paul Musser, Partner of Katten, as he…Read More
March 27, 2024
Unlock Success: Discover if Your Company Has What It Takes for a Business Turnaround
Developing a business turnaround strategy for your business may be one of the hardest things you ever do. The time has come to ask that critical question: can this business…Read More
March 27, 2024
Understanding Receiverships in Real Estate Transactions
Real estate receiverships can play a crucial role in the intricate landscape of real estate assets, serving as a legal mechanism to navigate distressed properties and assets to achieve the…Read More
February 2, 2024
Receivers and Receiverships in Texas
The appointment of a receiver to add independence and objectivity to maximize value in various business situations is becoming more commonplace in Texas. As people recognize the benefits of a…Read More