Grant Thornton Expands Oil and Gas Restructuring Practice

Grant Thornton LLP is expanding its restructuring-services offerings for oil and gas by hiring Loretta Cross and John Baumgartner. Based in Houston, Cross and Baumgartner join as managing directors who will be part of the firm’s Strategy and Transactions practice.

“Loretta and John possess tremendous restructuring experience with deep roots in the oil and gas industry,” said Paul Melville, national managing principal of Corporate Finance and head of the Restructuring practice at Grant Thornton. “Their extensive consulting acumen along with the restructuring team under their leadership will allow Grant Thornton to assist its oil and gas clients who are facing stress, distress and litigation — doing so at a time of great strain for oil and gas companies contending with the impact of COVID-19 and an increasing focus on alternative energy.”

Cross has more than 40 years of strategic, operational and financial consulting experience. She has served as a business advisor in some of the nation’s largest energy bankruptcies and restructurings — and has provided expert testimony on issues ranging from accounting practices to valuation issues. Cross rejoins Grant Thornton after more than seven years in the Restructuring group and Energy practice at a large consulting firm. During her first stint at Grant Thornton, she served as the national managing partner of the firm’s Corporate Advisory and Restructuring Services practice and was the Houston office Energy leader for Advisory Services.

Cross is a certified insolvency and restructuring advisor (CIRA) and holds her certification in distressed business valuation (CDBV). She has received multiple awards, including being named to the Who’s Who in Energy list by the Houston Business Journal and being named a YWCA Outstanding Woman in Energy. Cross received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin.

Baumgartner rejoins Grant Thornton with nearly 20 years of experience providing restructuring and solvency-related services. He specializes in financial restructuring, operational turnaround, energy consulting, litigation, valuation, forensic accounting and creditor representations. He has advised trustees and debtors in the energy field, including oil and gas, power and utilities, retail gas marketing, retail power marketing and midstream energy companies. Baumgartner previously served as a managing director in the Restructuring group and Energy practice at a large consulting firm. Earlier in his career, Baumgartner served as a director in Grant Thornton’s Corporate Advisory and Restructuring Services practice.

Baumgartner is a CIRA and holds his CDBV. He is a published author on oil and gas bankruptcies and received the Turnaround Management Association’s 2019 Turnaround and Transaction of the Year Award for Mid-Size Company Turnaround of the Year. Baumgartner received a master’s of business administration degree from Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rhodes College.

To learn more about Grant Thornton’s restructuring services and energy offerings, visit: www.grantthornton.com/restructuring-and-turnaround.