đ„DISH to Trinseo, âHold My Beerâđ„
Plus: a JELD-WEN Holding, Inc. ($JELD) update.
âĄUpdate: DISH DBS Corporation and DISH Wireless L.L.C.âĄ
A little over a month ago, we covered the self-dubbed prepackaged cases of EchoStar Corporation ($ECHO)âs DISH DBS Corporation (âDBSâ) and DISH Wireless L.L.C. (âDWLLC,â and together with DBS and their sixteen debtor affiliates, the âdebtorsâ and together with their non-debtor affiliates, the âcompanyâ).
You can refresh yourself on the companyâs background â including DWLLCâs now-defunct status â and creditor views on the âprepackâ nature of the cases đ âŠ
⊠or, alternatively, you can take it from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLPâs Kyle Kimpler, on behalf of first day objector and telecom REIT, Crown Castle Inc. ($CCI)(âCrown Castleâ), at yesterdayâs two-hour status conference:
âYour Honor, I think that the debtors are frankly not really the beneficiary of much deference at this point in the case. They came to us and they said we had a prepack. They wanted confirmation on August, I think, 14th. Here we are, and now they say confirmation in November. They said the special committee report would be due August 1st, and here we are, and we need more time.
They filed bidding procedures. They filed a DIP motion. None of that has been calendared. We agreed on a confirmation schedule. We agreed to the voting amounts. And they donât want to move forward with that.
The debtors donât have a clear strategy forward in this case.â
Yep, Mr. Kimpler ainât pleased. And no, this is not a prepack.
Letâs dive into the White & Case LLP (âW&Câ)-sponsored sh*tshow.
Recall that, in August â25, the W&C-repped debtors agreed to sell their licenses for 3.45GHz and 600MHz spectrum to AT&T Mobility II LLC (âAT&Tâ) for ~$20.3b. The sale was meant to resolve a Federal Communications Commission (the âFCCâ) investigation, which, in turn, led the company to claim force majeure termination rights under its agreements with tower lessors and vendors. Said tower lessors and vendors were ⊠how do we put this? â none-too-pleased. Lawsuits, for billions of dollars, poured in thereafter, all of which the debtors assert are subject to a section 502(b)(6) cap â although, Mr. Kimpler and any number of âlandlordâ creditors are channeling big Demi Moore energy and strenuously objecting. Oh, for sure weâll touch on that more đ.
Getting back to the sale, in order to get FCC approval of the transaction, the company had to agree to use sale proceeds to establish a $2.4b trust for, per the debtorsâ disclosure statement (the âDSâ), â⊠amounts due in connection with the construction, operation, maintenance, building, decommissioning, and/or provisioning of goods or services related to or arising out of the communications sites and/or communications network associated with ⊠the licenses âŠ.â
On July 28, 2026, the sale officially closed and the trust was established. Good news, right?
Well ⊠just hit them with it, Johnny:
The FCC has since taken a massive dump on the chosen language in the debtorsâ then-existing chapter 11 plan and DS.
Turn back and re-read the DS excerpt đ. Yeah, the FCC didnât like it. Nor that âEchoStar ⊠told a federal bankruptcy court that this [trust] fund can be used to pay a loan one EchoStar subsidiary supposedly made to another, a claim so large it threatens to swallow the fund,â aka the ginned-up $8.8b intercompany âloanâ the debtors clearly manufactured in August â25 â and that Mr. Kimplerâs colleague Brian Hermann vociferously called out at the first day hearing â to cover up contributions made dating back to â20.
A âloanâ that was then transferred to a trust benefiting DBS â not DWLLC â noteholders to gerrymander the vote at DWLLC and its liquidating debtor affiliates and had the potential, under the plan, to recover from those very trust funds, all to the detriment of DWLLCâs actual creditors.
A âloanâ that, btw, the July 12, 2026-appointed official committee of unsecured creditors (the âUCCâ), represented by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP (âAkinâ) and whose membership includes Castle Knight and fellow first day objector American Tower Corp. ($AMT)(âAMTâ), has already filed a standing motion to rid the estates of, in addition to seeking the unwinding of DWLLCâs transfer of its Boost Mobile business to a non-debtor affiliate just three days before the AT&T deal had been signed.
On July 30, 2026, the FCC, having taken note of the situation, issued a memorandum opinion and order setting the record straight:
âWhen we approved EchoStarâs sale of its licenses for tens of billions of dollars, we required it to set up a trust fund to help pay those companies that built its 5G network, because while EchoStar was required to build the network as a condition on its licenses, it refused to pay the companies that actually did so ⊠The purpose of the Fund is to pay those entities (including general contractors) that performed the work of building EchoStarâs 5G network, not those that provided EchoStar the funds to do so, even if providing that money was necessary for the work to be performed.â
You know, boots on the ground, folks doing hard work. It all makes good sense, so circling back to the intercompany claim, the FCC crystallized its position:
âWe disagree [with ECHOâs statement], and clarify what should be obvious â that the fund cannot be used to pay companies that did not build the network. And to ensure that that the purpose of the fund is not perverted, we also modify the fundâs terms to explicitly exclude from payment any claims of EchoStar or its subsidiaries ⊠To avoid similar problems and to ensure that the intent in creating the fund condition is fulfilled, we also modify the definition of a Fund Claim to exclude any claims on behalf of EchoStar or its subsidiaries or affiliates, or any assignee thereof.â
On August 11, 2026, the debtors amended the plan and the DS to reflect the FCCâs b*tch-slapping guidance.
Donât, however, misinterpret the plan modifications to suggest things are somehow getting back on track. Given the forthcoming interco-trust âloanâ litigation, the debtors are finding new ways to press forward and redirect resources.
On the same day as their amended plan and DS, they filed a 103-page omnibus objection to extinguish or, at a minimum, cap the claims of Crown Castle, AMT, and SBA Telecommunications, LLC, claiming, as noted above, force-majeure and 502(b) applies, which, under their theory, would render the relevant class unimpaired.
Cue Ropes & Gray LLP on behalf of AMT, which, in a preliminary response stated:
âThe Debtorsâ Omnibus Objectionâwhich proposes to litigate, on an omnibus basis through trial, three separate lawsuits involving three separate and distinct sets of contracts with over $8 billion at stake âŠâ
⊠holy hell, thatâs a lot more than the $2.4b in the trust âŠ
â⊠in just four weeksâis a bait-and-switch designed to give the Debtors a fallback path to plan confirmation in the event the Alleged Intercompany Loan Claim is disallowed, designated, subordinated, or recharacterized.â
A bait and switch. Oh, and an about-face. Back to AMT:
â⊠[S]ince day one of the bankruptcyâthe Debtors have made clear that (i) they would not rush litigation for distribution purposes on section 502(b)(6) issues, which affect hundreds of creditors on a case-by-case basis, and (ii) they would not rush litigation over the Debtorsâ âforce majeureâ and âfrustration of purposeâ contractual defenses âat any time before the Effective Date of the Plan.â[] Instead, the Debtors told the Court, correctly, that such rushed litigation over these supposed defenses would âinappropriately disadvantage the thousands of smaller claimants,â[] was âirrelevant to Plan confirmation,â âcomplex,â and does ânot need to happen in the next 45 daysâ but can instead proceed on a schedule appropriate for their resolution.â
In any event, neither AMT nor any other creditor thinks it works.* Hereâs AMT one last time:
âAs a threshold matter, Debtorsâ position presents a gating question: whether the 502(b(6) cap can apply to cap distributions of FCC Trust assets, which are not property of the estate. On August 18, 2026, the Wireless Infrastructure Association, of which American Tower is a member, filed an ex parte request with the FCC to formally clarify and reaffirm that any âallowed claimâ as determined by this Court for determining claimantsâ entitlement to their share of the estate is not dispositive of the allowed amount of a claim submitted to the FCC Trust.â
Not that their view is markedly different as against the debtorsâ estates â theyâll also be litigating the applicability of 502(b)(6) there. Like we said, itâs a sh*tshow.
You know whoâs tired of it? An audibly (and justifiably) frustrated Meredith Lahaie of the Akin firm â again, counsel to the UCC. At yesterdayâs status conference, she engaged in courtroom therapy, telling Judge Lopez:
âThe committee now understands that the debtors do not want to deal with the litigation surrounding [the] intercompany claim because they know, they have realized, that the insider claim vote-splicing structure that this entire plan is predicated on is not going to survive scrutiny.
And now, after they have demanded that everyone meet their ridiculously tight timeframes at tremendous cost, which I have no doubt they are going to retroactively attack when itâs no longer convenient for them to support the timeline that heretofore has driven these cases, they have now decided that it is no longer in their strategic interest to start with the intercompany claim litigation âŠ
Which leads me, Your Honor, to point of confusion number one. Who is actually controlling this plan process? Who is calling the shots? Who is acting as a fiduciary? And which law firm is acting for whom? âŠ
The question of who is driving these cases and who is calling the shots other than Charlie Ergen and other than EchoStar is an important one, because notwithstanding that the debtors, and Iâm sure the special committee, are crying about exigencies, emergencies, mounting expenses in the cases, we are still nowhere. And the debtors want to pin that on the Committee, and they want to pin that on the lenders and the tower lessors and everybody else involved in these cases.
But letâs just take a second and talk about what progress has or has not been achieved in the five weeks since the committee has been in existence. There has been no demonstrable progress.â
Lack of progress on things like the day 2-filed, EchoStar-funded DIP. She went on:
âWe also have the issue of DIP financing ⊠The committee now knows that the debtors did no work, none, to solicit or negotiate an alternative DIP, acting again in the service of EchoStar. And frankly, Your Honor, the Committee does not want an EchoStar DIP in any event. But we recognize the fact that at some point in these cases, we are likely to need financing. And so the Committee and its proposed investment banker are now actively soliciting a DIP, and we will fill that void.â
Then the meat and potatoes. She wants the standing motion to be heard by August 31 because â⊠[i]t is increasingly apparent to us that the claims need to be pursuedâ and drew to a close by telling the court thereâs likely more to come:
â⊠I will conclude by noting that the Committee is currently considering any and all appropriate actions to ensure that these cases are being conducted for the benefit of the true stakeholders of these estates, and not for the benefit of non-debtor insiders. And those actions that the Committee is considering may include, Your Honor, the filing of a motion to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee.â
And we thought Trinseo was bad. This is a âŠ
An expensive one too.
In any event, thereâs much more. The docket is in disarray, thereâs no love being lost among the professionals on each side, and other creditors spoke up at the hearing â none supportive.
Toward the end of the status conference, folks b*tched about the debtorsâ proposed and uber-extended case schedule. Creditors think a mid-November combined hearing is still way too tight and claims issues ought to be taken up in early December â26, given the need to involve the FCC, a slow-a$$ government agency, in discovery.
However, we didnât get any answers on those issues. At the tail end of the status conference, Judge Lopez informed everyone:
âItâs clear that I just need to go back and study everything thatâs on here and have the benefit of taking some thought to the schedule, looking at the proposed schedules that were filed, and not pick anything today⊠Iâll do that. Iâll pick it. I suspect no oneâs going to like it, but Iâll pick it.â
You can find out what the parties donât like live today: Judge Lopez plans to drop some of his thoughts at 2pm CT.
*It doesnât seem like AMT or Crown Castle is inclined to participate in the trust anyway. To do so, theyâd have to agree to voluntarily release claims against EchoStar, and neither wants to.
đ„Announcementđ„
As has been our customary practice over the years, the team plans to disburse over the remainder of summer and take a much-needed break from the action. Weâll still publish here and there (to the extent weâre inspired) and, if so, it will likely be (i) âoff scheduleâ and (ii) for paying subscribers only. We hope to come back fresh so that we can continue to deliver the type of PETITION content you know and love. As always, thank you for your support and have a great and safe rest-of-summer!
âĄïžUpdate 2: JELD-WEN Holding, Inc. ($JELD)âĄïž
We updated yâall on North Carolina-based window and door-maker JELD-WEN Holding, Inc. ($JELD)(âJELD-WENâ or the âcompanyâ)* just before the company released its 2Q26 earnings âŠ
⊠and, as promised, weâre back with an update on how it shook out.
It was âŠ
⊠not bad.
Donât get us wrong: there were still declines. In fact, 2Q26 net revenue declined (0.7%) YOY to $818mm, with âcore revenuesâ declining 2% due to lower volumes and mix shift (albeit offset somewhat by improved pricing).
By segment, North America revenues declined 5% YOY due to ongoing market weakness but the company said that it does not expect further material deterioration in demand levels from here. Woohoo!
Meanwhile, revenues from the European business, which the company has under strategic review, increased 8% YOY due to increased volumes and favorable mix (+3%), improved pricing (+2%), and favorable FX (+3%).
Gross margins fell YOY âŠ
⊠but Adj. EBITDA increased â for the first time in ten quarters â by 8.5% YOY with 50bps of margin expansion from greater productivity and lower SG&A.
FCF remained negative at ($25mm) â worse than its YOY comp, but much better sequentially (which is normal for the business between these two quarters).
The (relatively) positive quarter prompted JELD-WEN to revise the midpoint of its 2026 outlook upwards:
On an LTM basis, the company is tracking in line with full year revenue projections but will need to achieve further EBITDA improvements to hit these revised numbers.
The stock crept upwards in the lead up to the earnings call âŠ
⊠and ripped after the company reported. Itâs now up 59% over the last month, albeit off a low base. It remains down 21% YTD and down 93% all time.
The company drew an incremental $40mm on its $500mm ABL revolver and ended the quarter with $1.25b of debt outstanding, broken down as follows:
Leverage improved sequentially in 2Q26 despite the revolver draw due to higher EBITDA but remains at nose-bleed levels.
The companyâs nearest maturity debt, the $400mm of 4.875% senior notes due December â27, is pricing in the mid-80s, up from the low 60s earlier this year.
With less than 18 months to the companyâs next maturity, those 27s mentioned above, CEO Bill Christensen offered this on the 2Q26 earnings call:
âI want to briefly address both our balance sheet and portfolio priorities. We continue to actively evaluate options to address our near-term debt maturities, working closely with our advisors, including potential refinancing alternatives. Our objective is to preserve liquidity, maintain financial flexibility, and provide the company with sufficient time to continue improving performance as market conditions stabilize.
We also continue to make progress on the strategic review of our European business. The process remains ongoing. We are carefully evaluating the available alternatives with a focus on long-term shareholder value. We have nothing further to announce at this time.â
According to Bloomberg Law, the aforementioned advisors are reportedly from Evercore Inc ($EVR). One group of lenders has hired Moelis & Co. ($MC) as financial advisor and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP as legal counsel. A group of unsecured bondholders has retained Houlihan Lokey Inc. ($HLI) and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. Kirkland & Ellis LLP has previously represented JELD-WEN in a number of corporate and litigation matters.
The latest quarterly results offered some glimmer of hope for the companyâs recovery, but even the companyâs improved Adj. EBITDA outlook puts it at less than a third of what it was when the â27s were put in place in â17. With the parties lawyering up and maturity dates fast approaching, the company still needs to take action sooner or later.
*Our initial coverage is here.
đResourcesđ
Thereâs a lot of jittery market activity out there so youâll have to forgive us for having market dysfunction on our minds. As you know, weâve had a long-standing list of a$$-kicking resources on the topics of restructuring, tech, finance, investing, and disruption which, in case you forgot,đ„you can find heređ„. We do occasionally update it and this week youâll now find a number of titles weâve been dabbling in related to financial bubbles/crises. Take a look and read until your heartâs discontent.
đ€ Noticeđ€
Alison Wirtz (Managing Director) joined Pivot> from Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
Andrew Hede (Vice Chairman of Professional Services) joined HilcoGlobal from Accordion Partners.
Anthony Garcia (Managing Director) joined MACCO Restructuring Group.
Ben Wagoner (Associate) joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP from Ice Miller LLP.
Claire Stephens (Associate) joined Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP from Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
Dan Villalba (Associate) joined Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP from Ropes & Gray LLP.
David Hackel (Associate) joined Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP from Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
Hannes Schenk (Managing Director) joined Ankura Consulting from Houlihan Lokey.
Jeffrey Nerland (Senior Director) joined Armanino from Paladin.
John Haney (Managing Director) joined MACCO Restructuring Group.
Melissa Kelley (Counsel) joined Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP from Octus.
Oksana Lashko (Partner & National Co-Chair of Creditor Committee Practice) joined Squire Patton Boggs from Morrison Foerster.
Siena Cerra (Associate) joined Robinson+Cole from Morris James LLP.
đŸCongratulations toâŠđŸ
Ducera Partners LLC (Jason Koh) for securing the investment banker mandate on behalf of the official committee of unsecured creditors in the DISH DBS Corporation chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.
M3 Advisory Partners, LP (Robert Winning) for securing the financial advisor mandate on behalf of the official committee of unsecured creditors in the DISH DBS Corporation chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.
Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP (Bradford Sandler, Robert Feinstein, Shirley Cho) for securing the legal mandate on behalf of the official committee of unsecured creditors in the Poolin Technology PTE LTD chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.
NOTE: do you have exciting news to share? Feel free to email us â especially if youâre a firm administrator â with any and all personnel news at petition@petition11.com.
đ°New Opportunitiesđ°
PETITION is looking for two MBA candidates to work with us as paid interns. This is primarily a research (and writing) position for up to 10-20 hours a week that will give awesome exposure to the worlds of distressed investing, bankruptcy and restructuring. Work is remote. If interested, email us your resume at petition@petition11.com with the subject line âMBA Internshipâ and weâll be happy to answer questions. Cheers.