Bauer

Alison Bauer

Partner
Co-Chair, Bankruptcy & Restructuring Practice; Co-Partner in Charge New York Office
New York

I advise clients in workouts, corporate restructurings and bankruptcy matters. 

Alison Bauer is a Co-Partner in Charge of the New York Office and Co-Chair of Foley Hoag's Bankruptcy & Restructuring practice, where she focuses on U.S. and international business reorganizations, creditors’ rights, distressed acquisitions and financing in court proceedings and out-of-court workouts. Alison represents debtors creditors and purchasers in chapter 7, 11 and 15 cases, state court receiverships and UCC Article 9 foreclosures.

Alison regularly advises pension funds, private equity groups, venture capital firms, public companies and other financial services institutions in distressed investments across a variety of industries including life sciences, retail, energy, oil and gas, cannabis, healthcare, manufacturing, automotive, shipping, mining, real estate, financial services, technology, hospitality, video gaming and entertainment. She also advises traditional and non-traditional lenders including debtor-in-possession lenders, asset-based lenders, other institutional lenders, and agents of lenders. Alison negotiates on behalf of strategic purchasers and sellers in distressed mergers and acquisitions in and out of bankruptcy. She has acted for official committees of creditors and general unsecured creditors in an array of matters, including landlords, vendors, and defendants to preference and fraudulent conveyance actions.

Alison counsels clients on how to mitigate bankruptcy-related risks in vendor agreements and intellectual property transactions. She also opines on non-consolidation and true sales.

Related Industries

Related Practices

Education

  • New York University School of Law, J.D., 1995
  • Brown University, B.A., 1992

Bar and Court Admissions

BAR ADMISSIONS
  • New York
COURT ADMISSIONS
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Experience

Represented the debtor in the following situations:
  • Burgess BioPower, LLC  and Berlin Station LLC, a biomass energy facility, in their chapter 11 cases filed in Delaware with a restructuring support agreement and plan sponsored by the secured lenders.
  • Pear Therapeutics Inc., a public company, and its operating subsidiary, Pear Therapeutics (US) Inc. in their Chapter 11 cases.
  • Law firm in its, and firm’s partner in his individual, chapter 11 case.
  • Nortel U.S. group of companies on all Canadian law matters relating to its cross-border restructuring proceedings under the CCAA and Chapter 11, the sales of its business and assets in a series of auctions, and the ground-breaking global settlement of a dispute over apportionment of more than US$7 billion of net sales proceeds.
  • Cosmetic Essence, the fragrance and packaging company, in its out-of-court debt restructuring and equity recapitalization.
  • The U.S. subsidiary of a Chinese shipping and logistics company regarding its distressed trucking business, including advice on substantive consolidation and other issues relating to insulating the company from bankruptcy risk.
  • Advised boards of directors and management in energy, life sciences, technology and other venture-backed companies in insolvency and restructuring matters, including fiduciary duty issues, wind-downs, asset sales, secured party foreclosures, assignments for the benefit of creditors and recapitalizations.
Represented lenders, agents and secured parties in the following in-court and out-of-court workouts:
  • Providing the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston with workout and bankruptcy representation for the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP).
  • A Canadian provincial pension fund in a workout of real estate debt of over $150 million.
  • The Brazilian Federal Government in the restructuring of aircraft loans and amended leases to Grupo Aeromexico, a Mexican airline that filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York.
  • A long-term capital investment partner with SBIC loans to companies in rural and underserved area.
  • PNC Bank in Troll Communications LLC's US$15 million secured credit facilities
Represented sponsors and purchasers in distressed M&A transactions 
  • NFI Group, a multinational transit bus manufacturer, in its joint venture and acquisition of the assets of seat supplier American Seating Inc., including its equipment, inventory, brand and intellectual property.
  • MariMed in multiple transactions, including its acquisition of the assets of Ermont, a Quincy, MA cannabis retailer, out of receivership, the first cannabis receivership in Massachusetts.
  • Austin Group, a cannabis operator, as purchaser in multiple bids including through Article 9 foreclosures.
  • Alexion Pharma International Operations Unlimited Company in its acquisition of assets representing the AntiEotaxin program of Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its Israeli subsidiary, Immune Pharmaceutical Ltd., out of bankruptcy.
  • The ONE Group Hospitality, owners and licensors of the STK branded restaurants, in the acquisition of the assets of Kona Grill and its affiliates out of bankruptcy for $25 million in cash and the assumption of working capital liabilities of approximately $11 million.
  • Mill Road Capital, L.P., the pre-petition primary equity holder and co-sponsor of the confirmed, pre-packaged plan of reorganization of Rubio’s Restaurants, Inc., a Carlsbad, CA-based Mexican restaurant chain with approximately 170 restaurants in California, Arizona and Nevada.
  • The Children’s Place in its acquisition of the Gymboree® and Crazy 8® Brands through a Chapter 11 Section 363 auction.
  • THQ Nordic in its acquisition of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Copernicus and their related intellectual property from a Rhode Island receivership and other gaming software and IP, including the name THQ, in the seller’s bankruptcy case.
  • Compass Partners in its acquisition of the intellectual property and other assets of The Big Apple Circus through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy auction, which won M&A Advisor's 12th Annual Turnaround Award.
  • Carfinco Financial Group in its stalking horse bid to acquire all new ownership interests of Western Funding Incorporated and Global Track GPS, LLC, pursuant to their Chapter 11 plan of reorganization.
Represented creditors and significant partes in interests in court and out of court workouts
  • NFI Group (formerly New Flyer) as a creditor in the bankruptcy case of Coach USA, in the chapter 11 case of a propulsion system manufacturer and in out-of-court restructurings of automotive suppliers.
  • Representation of American Honda Motor, Co., Inc. in connection with matters related to the company’s hydrogen fueling infrastructure investments including loan and other transactions with First Element Fuel, Inc. 
  • Sunrise Foods, an agricultural commodities seller and supplier, in the chapter 11 case of Tessemae’s salad dressing maker.
  • Soltage LLC, a renewable power producer and developer of distributed utility-scale solar and storage assets as a creditor in the chapter 11 case of iSun. 
  • Successfully defended Brightwood Capital SBIC II, LP and Brightwood Capital Advisors, LLC in related fraudulent conveyance adversary proceedings filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta Division) commenced by the Chapter 7 Trustees in two affiliated bankruptcy cases.
  • Landlords in retail bankruptcy cases including Modell’s Sporting Goods, Toys R US, Gymboree and Payless.
  • Successfully defended The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited in bankruptcy court litigation against Adidas Canada in the case of In re Relay Opco LLC f/n/a Rockport Canada in a novel issue concerning the application of the statutory cap on lease claims under the Bankruptcy Code.
  • Alamos Gold as a creditor in the chapter 11 case of Republic Metals Corporation, a metals refiner.
  • The Topps Company as a defendant in preference actions.
  • Ontario Power Generation Inc. as a party in interest in the Sun Edison cases.
  • Multiple Canadian pension plans in defense of allegations of constructive fraudulent conveyance under Tribune Company’s Chapter 11 plan of reorganization and in connection with Lyondell Chemical Company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
Life Sciences, Technology and Energy Advisory Work
  • Ontario Power Generation on bankruptcy risk mitigation aspects of its project to develop Canada’s first on-grid small modular reactor (“SMR”) technology at the site of its Darlington New Nuclear Project, part of a pan-Canadian national approach to facilitate the development of SMR nuclear projects in Canada.
  • LigaChem Biosciences, a clinical-stage biotech company, in two worldwide in-licensing transactions for novel antibodies from NovaRock Biotherapeutics.  LigaChem Biosciences secured the exclusive rights to develop and commercialize antibody drug conjugates (ADC) incorporating these antibodies.
  • Leading synthetic biology company Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA) in various agreements, including:
    • with Boehringer Ingelheim to collaborate in mining Ginkgo’s metagenomic sequence database for a specified number of projects up to an aggregate total of $406 million
    • with Biogen (Nasdaq: BIIB) on a collaboration and license agreement to develop a next-generation recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) production platform.
  • Various investors in the monetization of royalty interests in pharmaceutical products.
  • An alternative asset manager focused on early and growth stage disruptive technologies with respect to portfolio companies that it manages.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
  • Assistant adjunct professor with Harvey Miller and Michael Walsh at New York University School of Law’s advanced bankruptcy seminar (1996-1998)

Publications

Other Publications

  • Commented on bankruptcy trends to watch for in 2026 in the Bloomberg Law article “Bankruptcy in 2026 to Be Guided by Policy Change, Fraud Scrutiny” (January 2026)
  • “Intoxicating Hemp Companies Facing the Ban Should Consider Federal Bankruptcy Relief Early”’ Cannabis and the Law blog (November 2025)
  • Media Mention in the Bloomberg Law article “Chapter 15 Bankruptcy Is Untapped Option for Cannabis Industry” (September 2025)
  • 23andMe Bankruptcy Updates (July 18, 2025, April 11, 2025, March 27, 2025)
  • “Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Blocks Cannabis Employee’s Chapter 13 Relief but Rejects Bright-Line Bar of Eligibility to be a Debtor in a Federal Bankruptcy Case” (April 9, 2024)
  • "Cannabis Rescheduling Will Not Open Bankruptcy Doors," Cannabis and the Law blog (September 2023)
  • "Court Allows Cannabis-Related Company to Liquidate Stock in Bankruptcy," Cannabis and the Law blog (February 2023)
  • "Employee of Cannabis Dispensary Denied Personal Bankruptcy Relief," Cannabis and the Law blog (January 2023)
  • PPP Loans and Small Business Debtors in Bankruptcy (March 10, 2021)
    Chapter 11 Debtors Gaining Momentum in Eligibility for PPP Loans (May 8, 2020)
IN THE MEDIA

Honors & Involvement

HONORS
  • Turnaround Atlas Awards’ Corporate Turnaround of the Year (Small Mid Market) for Mill Road Capital, L.P., Rubio’s Restaurants prepackaged restructuring (2021) 
  • Turnaround Atlas Awards’ Cross Border Turnaround of the Year (Large Mid Market) for Fairfax Financial’s acquisition of the Canadian assets of Torys “R” US (2019)
  • Turnaround Management Association’s Pro Bono Transaction Award for The Big Apple Circus Ltd. (2018)
  • M&A Advisor’s Consumer Discretionary Deal Of The Year ($10mm To $25mm) Award for the restructuring of The Big Apple Circus Ltd.

INVOLVEMENT
  • Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors
  • American Bankruptcy Institute
  • Turnaround Management Association
  • International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC)
  • The Association of Commercial Finance Attorneys
  • NY State Bar Association
  • NYC Bar Association
  • Federal Bar Council - NYC

Events

Other Events

  • "Implications of Rising Inflation on Corporate Restructuring Strategies,” Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors 39th Annual Bankruptcy & Restructuring Conference (June 2023) 
  • "SVB Flash Briefing: Staying Ahead of the Recent Silicon Valley Bank Developments," Foley Hoag webinar (March 2023)
  • "Distressed M&A: Recent Trends & Issues," Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors 38th Annual Bankruptcy & Restructuring Conference (June 2022) 
  • “Managing Credit in a Downturn,” SBIA: Lunch & Learn Webinar Series (September 2020)
  • “Getting Real,” Foley Hoag Video Podcast Series (May 2020)
SELECT THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
  • “The SVB Bankruptcy Decision and Its Lessons For D&O Insurance Programs”, Alison Bauer and Chris Mosley, Foley Hoag Alert (Aug 22, 2023)
  • "Court Allows Cannabis-Related Company to Liquidate Stock in Bankruptcy," Cannabis and the Law blog (February 2023)
  • "Employee of Cannabis Dispensary Denied Personal Bankruptcy Relief," Cannabis and the Law blog (January 2023)
  • PPP Loans and Small Business Debtors in Bankruptcy (March 10, 2021)
  • Chapter 11 Debtors Gaining Momentum in Eligibility for PPP Loans (May 8, 2020)

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