Oppenheimer's Municipal Restructuring Group

NEW YORK, March 2, 2022 - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s Municipal Restructuring Group delivers a comprehensive full-service capability to borrowers and lenders of distressed debt. The group’s credit-focused senior Public Finance bankers complement core restructuring specialists to advise governmental, housing and healthcare issuers on addressing challenges in their capital structure. The function is led by both Eric Scroggins, Co-Head of Debt Advisory and Restructuring, and Bill Reisner, Head of Public Finance Investment Banking.

The group’s offerings are beneficial, especially during a time when high-yield municipal bond defaults are rising with more transactions showing impairment. Mr. Scroggins said, “Without question, the economic effects of the pandemic have had an outsized impact on municipal issuers, from hospitals and senior assisted living communities to public retail districts and parking structures. The pandemic has fundamentally altered many of the financial assumptions tied to dedicated revenue bonds. Both issuers and institutional investors are seeking hands-on support and deep expertise across each stage of the municipal bond life cycle to adjust to this new normal."

Oppenheimer’s top-tier investment banking solutions in municipal finance include the full spectrum of capabilities expected by institutional investors and issuers, encompassing sales, trading, underwriting of newly issued securities, private placement of bank debt, and restructuring of existing debt. The Municipal Restructuring Group combines the firm’s decades of experience in helping entities stabilize and preserve value during periods of uncertainty, with capital-raising experience and resources required for essential projects in the municipal marketplace.

The group also leverages key resources in underwriting that span all tax treatments and credit types. These capabilities reinforce Oppenheimer’s large and growing public finance activities, which have earned the firm a top-3 position for municipal notes and recognition as a top-10 underwriter for all municipal issuance types in 2021.

Mr. Reisner said, “Now more than ever, lenders and borrowers need customized guidance and calibrated solutions to navigate restructuring situations in municipal markets. With municipal defaults likely to continue, Oppenheimer stands ready to leverage our experience as innovators in public finance to the benefit of borrowers and investors.”

Oppenheimer’s Municipal Restructuring Group builds on recent momentum, including the expansion of its Debt Advisory and Restructuring Group and robust growth in our Public Finance practice, to specifically address the needs of clients, using its capital market expertise across the financing spectrum to apply creative strategies to leveraged corporate issuers, financial sponsors, and credit investors.