Hughes Hubbard is serving as debtors’ counsel to illustrious diamond trading company Exelco NV and some of its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases.
The companies filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware on Sept. 26.
The petition listed between $10 million and $50 million in assets and between $50 million and $100 million in liabilities. Exelco owes approximately $24.6 million in unsecured trade debt to 20 other international diamond dealers.
The filing came after Exelco’s assets in its Antwerp office were seized by Belgian bank KBC Bank NV in an attempt to collect on a $30 million debt. A Belgian court later ordered the seized assets returned, saying Exelco was still on track to repay the loan by 2020.
The business was founded in 1993 by Leon and Lior Kunstler and master diamond cutter Jean-Paul Tolkowsky, and employs people in offices and factories around the world.
The filing made headlines in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Law360 and other news outlets.
Avner Bengera and Katie Coleman lead the HHR team, which includes Chris Gartman, Jeff Margolin, Dustin Smith, Gerold Niggemann, Jacob Gartman, Elizabeth Beitler and Danny Nuzzaci.
