Sidley Secures Dismissal for Harvest Sherwood in Adversary Proceeding Brought by Burford

Sidley successfully secured the dismissal of an adversary proceeding filed against Harvest Sherwood Food Distributors, Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, “Harvest Sherwood”) by Blakemore Investments LLC and Milwaukee Investments LP (collectively, “Burford”). On November 13, 2025, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas entered its formal order dismissing the proceeding, in which Burford alleged that, pursuant to a prepetition funding agreement, it held a senior, priority interest in certain proceeds from over US$1 billion of antitrust litigation claims asserted by Harvest Sherwood.

The bankruptcy court granted Sidley’s dismissal motion, preserving the first priority lien on those proceeds granted pursuant to the Debtors’ postpetition financing notwithstanding the prepetition commitment to direct the litigation recoveries to Burford.

Harvest Sherwood was the largest independent food distributor in the United States and served thousands of retailers and foodservice clients, generated approximately US$4 billion in annual revenue, and distributed over 32 million pounds of meat and other products each week. The company filed for chapter 11 protection on May 5, 2025, in the Northern District of Texas to maximize the value of estate assets and support an equitable and transparent recovery for all stakeholders.

The Sidley team representing Harvest Sherwood is led by Anthony Grossi, Jason Hufendick, Ryan Fink, and Daniela Rakowski (Restructuring), and Francesca Brody, Jon Muenz, and Gregory Jacobs (Litigation).