New Chapter 11 Filing - Answers Holdings Inc.

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Answers Holdings Inc.

  •  3/3/17 Recap: Apax Partners' backed website operator has filed for bankruptcy because it never evolved from Internet 1.0, has too much debt, its main site, Answers.com, is the red-headed step-child of Quora, and, quite frankly, not a single person receiving the PETITION newsletter has visited the site(s) since 2006. Yahoo, Facebook, Amazon (AWS), Amex and Silicon Valley Bank are among the top 10 creditors. The debtors solicited a prepackaged plan and so all of the above will be unimpaired - somewhat ironic given that algorithmic changes by Google and Facebook - in addition to a mountain of debt - are the real root causes of the company's decline.
  • Jurisdiction: SD of New York
  • Capital Structure: $40mm revolver, $325mm '21 first lien TL, $180mm '22 second lien TL.   
  • Company Professionals:
    • Legal: Kirkland & Ellis LLP (James Sprayragen, Jonathan Henes, Christopher Greco, Melissa Koss, John Weber, Anthony Grossi)
    • Financial Advisor: Alvarez & Marsal LLC (Justin Schmaltz, Erin McKeighan)
    • Investment Banker: Rothschild (Steven Antinelli)
    • Claims Agent: Rust Bankruptcy/Omni Consulting (*click on company name for docket)
  • Other Parties in Interest:
    • Ad Hoc Group of Consenting First Lien Lenders
      • Legal: Jones Day LLP (Scott Greenberg, Michael Cohen, Bryan Kotliar)
      • Financial Advisor: Houlihan Lokey
    • First Lien Agent: Credit Suisse AG
      • Legal: Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP (David Feldman, J. Eric Wise)
    • Ad Hoc Group of Consenting Second Lien Lenders (Deerpath Capital Management LP, North Haven Credit Partners LP, Summit Partners Credit Advisors LP)
      • Legal: Akin Gump Strauss Haur & Feld LLP (David Botter, David Simonds)
        • Financial Advisor: FTI Consulting Inc.
    • Second Lien Agent: Wilmington Trust NA
      • Legal: Alston & Bird LLP (Jason Solomon, David Wender)
    • Sponsor Entities: Apax Partners LP, Clarity Holdco LP, Clarity GP LLC
      • Legal: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP (Elisha Graff, Edward Linden)
    • Proposed Board of Directors of the Reorganized Entity: William Ruckelshaus, Eric Ball, Peter Daffern, Eugene Davis, John Federman, Lonne Jaffe, Brian Mulligan.

Updated 4/2/17