this is more from the equity investor point of view since it comes up in the equity readings.
how are they different?
both appear to be involved in some sort of reorg/restructuring.
They’re similar, differing in the degree of distressedness. Deep value is like Macy’s. Beat up retail stock with a high div yield. Take the risk in it, and you might get a fat div yield and a nice dead cat bounce return. You might call GE deep value as well, assuming you believe their recovery story and ability to deleverage. GE might also be a value trap, which is a common trap with any kind of value play. Distressed investing would be something like highly leveraged biotech stocks where ppl are freaking out about the company being a going concern and whether equities will receive anything once bond holders are paid off (if at all). Very high returns once things turn around. (e.g. Valeant Pharma recovering from $8 to $27. Also watch the documentary on Netflix on drug pricing. It’s pretty good). The value can also be realized thru a takeover.
From the book, it sounds like in both cases, you get involved with the reorg.