Akin Gump beats Milbank and Kirkland to scoop WorldCom bondholders role

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has won work from a committee of WorldCom's largest institutional bondholders, seeing off competition from Enron creditors' committee advisers Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy and Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis.
Daniel Golden, head of Akin Gump's financial re-structuring practice, will advise the bondholders on matters related to WorldCom's restructuring and possible bankruptcy. He will be assisted by Akin Gump partners Michael Stamer and Ira Dizengoff.
The creditors interviewed all three firms last week and opted for Akin Gump on Wednesday (3 July). Golden's practice specialises in representing creditors' and bondholders' committees in large restructurings and Chapter 11 matters, including Flagstar Companies and the Grand Union Company.
The WorldCom creditors group holds a considerable portion of the troubled telecoms company's $30bn ($19.66bn) bond debt. It comprises 22 institutional investors, including AIG Global Investment Group, Cerberus Capital Management, Fidelity Investments, Franklin Templeton Investments, Metropolitan Life Insurance and Putnam Investments.