Valley bankruptcies up significantly from 2008 to 2009 - Phoenix Business Journal:

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In the first quarter, 46 companies filed for Chapterr 11 reorganization or Chapter 7 or13 bankruptcy, up 44 percent from the same periocd last year, according to the latesr data compiled by investment bank LLC. A Chapter 11 filing allow a business to reorganize whiled receiving protectionfrom creditors. The Phoenix office of is swampee with 25 to 30 pendinf Chapter11 cases, includinyg Tempe home builder and Phoenix-baseds , which operates eighrt of its 11 vacation properties in “That’s a huge increase compared to 2008,” said Jack who heads the firm’s bankruptcy department. The real estate markeg declined even furtherin fourth-quarte 2008.
Because the Phoenix market is so heavilgy reliant on the realestate sector, when it crashes, otheer businesses are swept away in the aftermath. On the M&A Phoenix deals plummeted 59 percent, from 34 in first-quarter 2008 to 14 in the firsty quarter ofthis year. GHF Managing Directod Paul Javnick saidfinancing M&A deals is tough righr now. It’s difficult to get credi for dealsof $500 million or which rarely occur in midsize markets such as because private equity firms can’t access debt to buy In many cases, they’re opting for minorituy ownership instead.
Small deals also are getting Toexacerbate matters, consumer services, high-enc restaurants and some other sectorsx are struggling to survive as consumers watch their spending. “Those kinds of deals are really said Javnick, who splits his time betweenh Phoenix and the firm’s headquarters in Minneapolis. “There’sz life in the market,” he said, but “it’s sector by Scottsdale-based LLC is seeing a surge in business, particularly in strategicd buys. “We’re actually seeing a pretty strong marketrighf now,” said Guy Downing, co-founder and managing director.
Strategicx buys typically are carried outby well-capitalizeds companies in the same or a complementary Many of these players have been chased out of deals or priced out of the marke t during the past three to four years, but conditionsa have shifted in their favor. “We thin ’09 is going to be relativelgy strong,” Downing said. Greene Holcomb Fisher LLC: Columbia West Capital LLC: