Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products, N.V.
Lernout & Hauspie, a maker of voice recognition software, had joint headquarters
in Leper, Belgium and Burlington, Massachusetts. Their cross-border Chapter 11 case
involved the vote and subsequent distribution of cash and new securities to holders
of regular and bearer bonds spread throughout the US and European brokerage communities.
Why Being Internationally Savvy Matters
Working with international broker contacts, DRC devised an automated data system
to convert overseas securities to American equivalents. A dual system was then implemented
in which the bond holders could capture and vote those securities on behalf of their
beneficial holders. DRC then administered the vote and made multiple distributions
to the holders.
Getting Results
Counsel was able to accurately implement a very complicated vote and distribution
seamlessly and cost-effectively, without the enormous and invariably difficult and
time-consuming problems associated with multinationally held securities.