The Wall Street Journal ($) is reporting that Stephen F. Cooper, the independent chief executive officer of Enron Corp. during its chapter 11 case, is preparing to request approval of a $25 million bonus for his and his firm’s (Kroll Zolfo Cooper, a unit of Marsh & McLennan Cos.) work in connection with Enron’s nearly three year old reorganization. The request is in addition to $63.4 million in fees that Mr. Cooper and his firm have already collected from Enron during the chapter 11 case.
Not bad work if you can get it.
Enron’s Chapter 11 disclosure statement estimates that fees to all of the bankruptcy professionals involved in the Enron chapter 11 case will eventually reach nearly $1 billion. Although arguably outrageous, the amount needs to be kept in perspective. Enron’s reorganization plan is a “going concern” liquidation plan that the company believes will generate about $12 billion for distribution to creditors. That translates to a recovery of about 17 cents on the dollar for the largest group of creditors holding unsecured claims. If Enron had simply liquidated immediately after filing bankruptcy, the company estimates that the amount available for distribution to creditors would have likely have been only about $6 billion. So, the reorganization professionals have been at least partly responsible for preserving value for creditors.
But that’s still some serious scratch.