Saybrook is not a bulge-bracket bank, it's not even based on Wall Street, although it has an office in New York. Yet the financial advisory and capital management boutique based in Santa Monica has worked on five of the largest bankruptcies in history, including those of Pacific Gas & Electric, United Airlines and Kmart. The firm has just been appointed lead banker to the ad hoc creditors committee of Delta Airlines, which announced it was filing for bankruptcy protection in mid-September, at exactly the same time that Northwest Airlines made the same move.
"I thought Northwest would also file for bankruptcy, but I didn't think they'd pick the same day," says Jonathan Rosenthal, partner and head of Saybrook's restructuring business. "Actually I think they will be closely related transactions, although...
