Brandon T. Morris

Partner

Areas of Focus

Brandon T. Morris

Partner

bmorris@akingump.com

Areas of Focus

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Biography
  • Advises borrowers, investors and creditor committees on tax issues related to bankruptcy and restructuring, special situations and distressed investments.
  • Represents investment funds and companies on complex transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity and debt finance.

Brandon focuses his practice on the tax aspects of financial restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and debt finance.

Brandon has over a decade of experience representing companies, creditor groups and investment funds on tax planning for both in-court and out-of-court restructurings, including tax structuring related to bankruptcy, distressed M&A transactions and special situations. He also advises investment funds and public and private companies on the tax aspect of acquisitions, dispositions and other business transactions.

Brandon was listed among the “Bankruptcy Tax Specialists in the Nation’s Major Law Firms” by Turnarounds & Workouts in 2022.

Brandon has also advised clients on:

  • Debt and equity financing transactions
  • Section 382 and net operating loss issues
  • Partnership tax, profits interests and joint ventures
  • Inbound and outbound cross-border investments
  • Investment tax credits (48D) for investments in semiconductor manufacturing
  • Renewable energy investments
  • Tax-exempt organizations
  • Formation and operation of liquidating and litigation trusts.
Representative Work

Restructuring/Special Situations

  • Advised an ad hoc group of senior noteholders of Aerovias de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. in the Chapter 11 cases of Aeroméxico, Mexico’s flagship airline.
  • Advised a group of first lien lenders of Frontera Holdings LLC in the company’s emergence from bankruptcy and the issuance of the credit agreement by the company’s reorganized successor, New Frontera Holdings LLC.
  • Advised an ad hoc group of noteholders in connection with the balance sheet restructuring of Pacific Drilling S.A.
  • Advised lenders in connection with $150 million of incremental term loans under a priority lien credit facility to Travelport Finance (Luxembourg) S.à r.l.
  • Advised an ad hoc group of first lien lenders for True Religion Apparel Inc. on tax aspects of a $471 million restructuring.
  • Provided tax advice to an ad hoc group of noteholders in connection with the restructuring of Templar Energy LLC, an independent exploration and production company with a core focus in the high-yield, rich natural gas and oil producing formations in Western Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle.

M&A / Private Equity

  • Advised American Zinc Recycling LLC, a leading provider of environmental services to the United States steel industry, on the sale of 100 percent of its recycling assets to Luxembourg-based Befesa S.A. for $450 million.
  • Advised Eastman Kodak Company on Kodak and Montague Private Equity LLP’s sale of Kodak’s Flexographic Packaging Division. Now part of Montagu’s portfolio, the division operates as a standalone company known as Miraclon.
  • Advised Genesis Energy L.P. on the sale of a 36 percent minority equity interest in its Cameron Highway Oil Pipeline System to an undisclosed financial party at an 8/8ths valuation of $1.16 billion, which resulted in gross proceeds to Genesis of approximately $418 million.
  • Advised Trinity Industries Inc. on a definitive agreement to sell its highway products business for $375 million in cash to Monomoy Capital Partners, an operationally focused middle-market private equity fund. Trinity’s highway products business is a leading manufacturer and global supplier of commercial highway products.
  • Advised Outcome Health, a portfolio company of Littlejohn & Co., in combination with PatientPoint® to create PatientPoint Health Technologies™—a new platform company offering tech-enabled patient engagement solutions.
  • Advised Commercial Metals Company on its acquisition of 33 rebar fabrication facilities in theU.S., as well as steel mills located in Knoxville, Tennessee; Jacksonville, Florida; Sayreville, New Jersey; and Rancho Cucamonga, California, from Gerdau S.A., a producer of long and specialty steel products in the Americas for a cash purchase price of $600 million.
  • Advised Fred’s Inc. on a transaction with Walgreens, in which Walgreens acquired pharmacy patient prescription files and related pharmacy inventory of 185 Fred’s stores located across 10 Southeastern states.

Education
  • LL.M., New York University School of Law, 2013

  • J.D., Tulane University Law School, magna cum laude, 2009

  • B.A., Mississippi State University, summa cum laude, 2006

Bar Admissions
  • District of Columbia

  • New York

Recognitions
  • Akin Gump Stark Richie Counsel Award for pro bono work.
Affiliations and Public Service
  • Member, Tax Section, American Bar Association
  • Member, Tax Section, District of Columbia Bar
  • Member, Akin Gump Pro Bono Committee
Speeches and Publications
  • “Oil and Gas Online Conference,” AICPA & CIMA, November 2020.

Insights and Achievements

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