📺New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - MobiTV Inc.📺

MobiTV Inc.

On Monday, Emeryville, California-based MobiTV, Inc. and an affiliated debtor filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the District of Delaware. MobiTV is “a creative thinking technology company making TV better.” Which is funny because we’re willing to bet that literally nobody thinks about MobiTV when they think about whether they enjoy their television-watching user experience. Anyway, what that actually means is MobiTV sells a white-label software application to cable providers that allows consumers to stream programming on (i) streaming devices like Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, XBox or (ii) a smart TV, without the need for a set-top cable box. Key customers include T-Mobile USA Inc. ($TMUS) and over 120 cable/broadband television providers to deliver content to over 300k end user subscribers. In other words, if you’re streaming HBO via T-Mobile, your experience may very well be powered by MobiTV.

MobiTV has been around since 2000 and had gone through several shifts in its fortunes and business model. In 2020, MobiTV generated $13M in revenue with an operating loss of approximately $34M. That is a long fall from grace for a company that filed for an IPO in 2011 with reported 2010 sales of $67M. At the time, MobiTV was entirely focused on providing licensed TV programming to the personal devices of customers on wireless networks with AT&T Inc. ($T), Sprint, and T-Mobile accounting for almost all of the company’s revenues. MobiTV had raised over $110M from investors like Menlo Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Adobe Ventures, and Hearst Ventures.

But despite its rosy trajectory, MobiTV withdrew its IPO filing a few months later citing unfavorable market conditions. In hindsight, there were obviously deeper problems with the business model. Broadcast TV viewing on mobile devices failed to take off in the way the company predicted and MobiTV pivoted away from serving wireless carriers.

Its new target customer was midsize cable providers. Set-top boxes have long been at the center of consumers interactions with cable providers. But these boxes have plenty of drawbacks:

Pay-TV providers (and their consumers) are looking for a way beyond set-top boxes, which can be expensive for consumers to buy, costly to maintain for the pay-TV providers and often limited in their functionality. Their clunkiness, in fact, has made them ripe for disruption, and many now opt for lighter options like Fire TV or Apple TV to bypass those services altogether. In other words, pay-TV providers need to find other routes to providing services to customers that can compete better with the newer generation of video services. (emphasis added)

MobiTV saw the shift towards streaming devices and smart TVs and aimed to position itself as a “television as a service provider” to midsized cable providers like C Spire, DirectLink, and Citizens Fiber. These companies lack the R&D budgets of the likes of Comcast Corporation ($CMCSA) to invest in user interface and software applications in their set-top boxes. In 2017, MobiTV raised $21M from Oak Investment Partners and Ally Bank ($ALLY) (at a reported ~$400M valuation!) to develop its MobiTV ConnectTM Platform, “a product for pay TV and on-demand TV providers to stream broadcast TV and offer other services, like catch-up and recording, without the need of a set-top box.”

The idea was to capture some of the “customer ownership” that was slipping from cable set-top boxes to streaming devices and services. In 2019, MobiTV raised $50M more from Oak Investment Partners and Ally Bank as well as Cedar Grove Partners to fund further growth. At the time, MobiTV had about 90 cable providers signed up as customers.

Middlemen can make good money and at first glance it seemed like MobiTV might have been able to carve out a position for itself. MobiTV offered cable providers a small way to stem the tide of cord cutting and the proliferation of streaming services like HBO Max, Netflix Inc ($NFLX), Hulu, and the rest. As TechCrunch laid out, “The pitch that MobiTV makes to pay TV providers goes something like this:”

…set-top-box-free pay TV services gives operators a wider array of channels and potentially more flexibility in how they are provisioned. At the same time, a solution like MobiTV’s potentially lowers the total cost of ownership for providers by removing the need for the set-top boxes.

That’s not to say that some of its customers are not using both, though: they can provide a certain set of channels directly through boxes, and the MobiTV service gives them the option of having another set that are offered on top of that.

By 2020, MobiTV’s customer base had grown to about 120 midsize cable TV operators as well as legacy T-Mobile customers. Revenue was growing and its subscribers and customers bases were both increasing. So what the hell happened here? 🤔

An agnostic software solution for cable providers to capture some of the shift towards streaming? Coupled with more people stuck at home from a pandemic? If this product were ever going to work, one would think it would have been during the last year. From the First Day Declaration:

That’s the entirety of section D. Maybe we are dense but it would be interesting to know what exactly about the COVID-19 pandemic and related stay-at-home orders materially impaired the Company’s growth opportunities. Seems like that should have been good for business, no?

But we can speculate.

As every content provider has rolled out their own streaming service over the last twelve months, MobiTV was probably in the worst position in the entire television streaming value chain. On the supply side, content providers are focused on promoting their own streaming services and have little reason to give any sort of pricing concessions to a niche service provider like MobiTV. This surely kept MobiTV’s licensing costs at an elevated level.

On the demand side, consumers likely were not calling in to their cable providers demanding MobiTV considering they could get the same content with a $30 Roku, their streaming subscriptions, and their broadband bill. Cable providers apparently were willing to pay for the service, but not enough to keep the company from losing money.

After 20 years of trying to figure out what its business model was, MobiTV finally threw in the towel and management took COVID cover.

The “tell” that the business issues were more elemental than COVID? The fact that the company has been operating under a series of 17 amendments and forbearance agreements.

At the time of its Ch. 11 filing, MobiTV had ~$25M of debt obligations, owed entirely to its sole pre-petition secured lender, Ally Bank.

In 2017 Ally Bank provided MobiTV a $10M term loan as well as a $5M revolving credit facility which was fully drawn. The original maturity of these loans was February 3, 2019, but following the aforementioned amendments and forbearance agreements, the maturity date was pushed back to January 2021. To fund the business in the interim, Oak Investment Partners threw good money after bad, underwriting three Subordinated Convertible Promissory Notes on August 6, 2020 ($4mm); December 14, 2020 ($1mm); and December 30, 2020 ($0.3mm). As a condition to one of Ally Bank’s credit amendments, MobiTV engaged FTI Capital Advisors LLC to evaluate strategic alternatives. A subsequent marketing effort came up empty: the “alternatives” were non-existent.

Consequently, on January 29, 2021, MobiTV and Ally Bank entered into another amendment and forbearance. T-Mobile — the customer most reliant upon the MobiTV’s services — provided $2.5mm in bridge financing lest they upset thousands of customers right around Super Bowl time. On February 12, 2021, T-Mobile agreed to provide an additional ~$2.3mm and Ally Bank agreed to forbear until February 26, 2021.

Following negotiations with Ally Bank and T-Mobile, the interested parties concluded that a sale process should be implemented through the filing of chapter 11. An affiliate of T-Mobile, TVN Ventures, LLC, has committed to a $15mm DIP credit facility (12%), junior to the pre-existing pre-petition Ally Bank position. As of this writing, management is still seeking a stalking horse bidder to backstop the sale process.

At $13mm of revenue with an operating loss that high, there’s a very good chance that T-Mobile knows it’s buying this thing with that DIP commitment.

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Date: March 1, 2021

Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware (Judge Silverstein)

Capital Structure: $25mm funded debt

Company Professionals:

• Legal: Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP (Debra Grassgreen, Mary Caloway, Maxim Litvak, Nina Hong, Jason Rosell)

• Financial Advisor: FTI Consulting Inc. (Chris LeWand, Catherine Moran, Chris Post, Chris Tennenbaum, Doug Edelman)

• Claims Agent: Stretto (Click here for free docket access)

Other Parties in Interest:

• DIP Lender: T-Mobile USA Inc. and TVN Ventures LLC

  • Legal: Alston & Bird LLP (William Sugden, Jacob Johnson) & Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP (Edmon Morton, Kenneth Enos)

• Silicon Valley Bank

  • Legal: Morrison Foerster LLP (Alexander Rheaume, Benjamin Butterfield) & Ashby & Geddes LLP (Gregory Taylor, Katharina Earle)

• Ally Bank

  • Legal: McGuireWoods LLP (Kenneth Noble, Kristin Wigness, Ha Young Chung) & Richards Layton & Finger PA (John Knight, David Queroli)

• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors:

  • Legal: Fox Rothschild LLP (Seth Niederman, Michael Sweet, Gordon Gouveia)

🧀 New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - CEC Entertainment Inc. 🧀

CEC Entertainment Inc.

June 24, 2020

For our rundown, please go here.

• Jurisdiction: S.D. of Texas (Judge Isgur)

• Capital Structure: $1.089b funded debt ($760mm TL, $108 RCF, $6mm LOC, $215.7mm notes)

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP (Matthew Barr, Alfredo Perez, Andrew Citron, Rachael Foust, Scott Bowling)

  • Board of Directors: David McKillips, Andrew Jhawar, Naveen Shahani, Allen Weiss, Peter Brown, Paul Aronzon

  • Financial Advisor: FTI Consulting Inc. (Chad Coben)

  • Investment Banker: PJT Partners LP (Jamie O’Connell)

  • Real Estate Advisor: Hilco Real Estate LLC

  • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • PE Sponsor: Queso Holdings Inc./AP VIII CEC Holdings, L.P. (Apollo)

    • Legal: Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP

  • First Lien Credit Agreement Agent: Credit Suisse AG, Cayman Islands Branch

    • Legal: Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (Eli Vonnegut) & Rapp & Krock PC (Henry Flores, Kenneth Krock)

  • Ad Hoc Group of First Lien Lenders: American Money Management Corp, Arbour Lane Capital Management, Arena Capital Advisors LLC, Ares Management LLC, Bank of Montreal, BlueMountain Capital Management, Carlson Capital LP, Catalur Capital Management LP, Citibank NA, Credit Suisse AG, Deutsche Bank New York, Fidelity Management & Research Co., Fortress Investment Group LLC, GS Capital Partners LP, Hill Path Capital, Indaba Capital Fund LP, ICG Debt Advisors, Jefferies Financ LLC, J.H. Lane Partners Master Fund LP, Monarch Alternative Capital LP, MSD Capital LP, MSD Partners LP, Octagon Credit Investors LLC, Par Four Investment Management LLC, RFG-Clover LLC, Second Lien LLC, UBS AG, Wazee Street Capital Management, Western Asset Management Company LLC, WhiteStar Asset Management, ZAIS Group LLC

    • Legal: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP (Ira Dizengoff, Philip Dublin, Jason Rubin, Marty Brimmage Jr., Lacy Lawrence)

  • Indenture Trustee: Wilmington Trust NA

    • Legal: Reed Smith LLP (Kurt Gwynne, Jason Angelo)

  • Ad Hoc Group of ‘22 8% Senior Noteholders (Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC, Prudential Financial Inc., Resource Credit Income Fund, Westchester Capital Management)

    • Legal: King & Spalding LLP (Matthew Warren, Lindsey Henrikson, Michael Rupe)

    • Financial Advisor: Ducera Partners LLC

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors: Wilmington Trust NA, The Coca-Cola Company, National Retail Properties, Performance Food Group, Washington Prime Group, NCR Corporation, Index Promotions

    • Legal: Kelley Drye & Warren LLP (Eric Wilson, Jason Adams, Lauren Schlussel & Womble Bond Dickinson LLP (Matthew Ward)

7/17/20 Dkt. 352.

💪 New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - 24 Hour Fitness Inc. 💪

24 Hour Fitness Inc.

June 15, 2020

California-based 24 Hour Fitness Inc. (along with ten affiliates, the “debtors”) filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the District of Delaware after it became apparent that it’s hard to sustain a fitness business when, as a practical matter, you’re really 0 Hour Fitness Inc. When you have 3.4mm customers across 445 (leased) locations across the United States, it’s awfully hard for a business that typically does $1.5b in revenue and $191 in adjusted EBITDA to make money when a pandemic rips through the nation and shuts down business entirely. This, ladies and gentlemen, like the few airlines who have filed for bankruptcy to date, is as pure-play a COVID-19 story as they come these days.

Now, that’s to not to suggest that everything was copacetic prior to the quarantine. The business had some pimples on it. The debtors’ CRO cites the selling/operating model’s negative impact on financial performance. But the biggest and scariest pimples are the debtors’ balance sheet and lease portfolio. The former includes $1.4b of funded debt; the latter, 445 locations leased across the country, of which 135 have already been deemed unnecessary and are the subject of a first day executory contract rejection motion (PETITION Note: the debtors denote this as “a first wave.”). When revenues stop coming into the coffers, these tremendous amounts become quite an overhang and a liquidity drain.

The filing, among other things, helps solve for the liquidity issue. The debtors have obtained a commitment for a $250mm new-money senior secured DIP facility from an ad hoc group of lenders. While there is no restructuring support agreement in place here, the ad hoc group is comprised of 63.3% of the aggregate principal amount outstanding under the prepetition credit facility and approximately 73.9% of the face amount of the $500mm in senior unsecured notes. In other words, there’s a solid amount of support here but not enough yet to command the senior class of debt.

Luckily, the debtors gave themselves a form of pre-DIP. Wait. Huh? What are we referring to?

…the Debtors were obliged to close all of their fitness clubs nationwide on March 16, 2020, in response to this national emergency. As a result, the Debtors were no longer able to generate new sources of revenue (by winning new members) and, on or about April 15, 2020, the Debtors suspended billing on account of monthly membership dues.fn

In the footnote, the debtors note:

To date, litigation has been commenced in connection with the Debtors’ monthly billing on a post-March 16 basis, notwithstanding, among other things, the Debtors’ rights under their various membership agreements. The Debtors reserve all rights, claims, and defenses in this regard.

Uh, apparently, 0 Hour Fitness Inc. = 30 Days of Payment Inc. We’ll see whether this short-term liquidity grab created long term customer retention issues.*

You charged your members for time that you did not provide to them. Terrible policy, by a terrible gym. Glad I cancelled my membership and I’m sure many other have/will as well.

— RobertTheAnalyst (@AnalystRobert) June 11, 2020

wow... bruh y'all charged people during mid march and april. 😒 Yeah I'm canceling my shit as well, and build my own home gym.

— TheHo3 (@xFoodStamp) June 11, 2020

Moreover, the fact that they apparently laid off thousands of employees via conference call probably won’t amount to a whole lot of goodwill. Just sayin’.

24 Hour Fitness just fired a lot of us thru a prerecorded phone call. They were silent for months and only gave us 1 week of pay while the gyms were closed. They couldnt tell us why we got fired and why others didnt. They are one of the most unprofessional companies. Fuck 24.

— chino (@edmillest) June 10, 2020

Now it’s wait and see. The debtors have reopened approximately 20 locations in Texas and hope to have the majority of their other non-rejected clubs open by the end of June. We’ll see if the uptick in COVID cases in certain states throws a wrench in that plan. To combat any COVID-related perception risk, the debtors are instituting some new measures:

…the Debtors have taken an innovative approach to the reopening of their clubs, instituting market-leading strategies to keep their members and employees safe, including an app-based reservation system to ensure that their clubs remain in compliance with applicable social distancing guidelines, a touchless check-in system to limit members’ and employees’ contact with surfaces, and cleaning schedules that ensure that entire clubs are sanitized every hour. (emphasis added)

Gosh. We see sh*t like this — the airlines are also making similar statements about newly implemented cleanliness standards — and it really makes us wonder: what the bloody hell were these cesspools doing pre-COVID?!?!? Clearly not enough.

And, yet, otherwise, we have some sympathy for these businesses. This is a brand new paradigm. The debtors indicate that they’re implementing a reservation-based system where people are locked into an hour-max workout after which the gym will be closed for 30 minutes for a “deep clean.” That is not exactly a seamless and frictionless user experience. Moreover, what kind of chemicals are going to be dumped all over the facility every 60 minutes? These are tough issues.

As far as social distancing:

…the Debtors are utilizing space in their clubs in creative ways in order to continue to offer members a range of amenities and services. For example, the Debtors are utilizing their basketball courts to hold group exercise classes, including by relocating stationary bike equipment to continue to offer indoor cycling classes, so that members and equipment can be properly spaced to comply with social distancing guidelines.

Source: First Day Declaration

No offense but does THIS really worth going to the gym for? You can use apps for a fraction of the cost and do this at home…mask-less.

So what now?

The DIP financing will buy the debtors some time to evaluate new trends. Will those people who paid for a month when the gym was closed come back? Will the news about employee treatment effect the “brand”? Will all of those people who bought home gyms or learned to run need to go to a gym? The re-opening notwithstanding, all of these questions will directly impact valuation. Indeed, how do you value this business with so many massive question marks? Well, luckily, we have the debt to get a sense of what that answer might be. And considering that, at the time of this writing, the term loan is bid in the high 20s and the unsecured notes are bid around 3 — that’s right, 3 — it’s pretty clear who is getting (generally) wiped out in this scenario and where the market thinks the value breaks.

*Honestly, this was a dirty move but from the debtors’ perspective, it also totally makes sense.

• Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware (Judge Owens)

• Capital Structure: $95.2mm ‘23 RCF, $835.1mm ‘25 Term Loan, $500mm 8% ‘22 unsecured notes (Wells Fargo Bank NA)

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP (Ray Schrock, Ryan Preston Dahl, Kevin Bostel, Kyle Satterfield, Ramsey Scofield, Jackson Que Alldredge, Jacob Mezei, Alexander Cohen, Sarah Schnorrenberg) & Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP (Laura Davis Jones, Timothy Cairns, Peter Keane)

  • Directors: Marc Beilinson, Stephen Hare, Roland Smith

  • Financial Advisor/CRO: FTI Consulting Inc. (Daniel Hugo)

  • Investment Banker: Lazard Freres & Co. LLC (Tyler Cowan)

  • Real Estate Advisor: Hilco Real Estate LLC

  • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • Ad Hoc Group

    • Legal: O’Melveny & Myers LLP (John Rapisardi, Adam Rogoff, Daniel Shamah, Diana Perez, Adam Haberkorn) & Richards Layton & Finger PA (Mark Collins, Michael Merchant, David Queroli)

  • Prepetition Agent: Morgan Stanley Senior Funding Inc.

    • Legal: Latham & Watkins LLP (Alfred Xue)

  • DIP Agent: Wilmington Trust

    • Legal: Covington & Burling (Ronald Hewitt)

  • Senior Notes Indenture Trustee: Wells Fargo Bank NA

    • Legal: Reed Smith LLP (Eric Schaffer, Luke Sizemore, Mark Eckard)

  • Large equityholders: AEA, Fitness Capital Partners LP, 2411967 Ontario Limited

✈️ New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - LATAM Airlines Group S.A. ($LTM) ✈️

LATAM Airlines Group S.A.

May 26, 2020

COVID-19 is starting to notch a long list of corporate victims. Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings have NOT been in short supply the last two months. Yet while many of the debtors may cite COVID-19 as a factor leading to the bankruptcy filings, in the super-majority of cases it was merely a contributing factor. The icing on the cake, if you will. From our vantage point, prior to the last week, there had only been (arguably) four pure-play COVID-19 chapter 11 bankruptcy filings:

• Ravn Air Group Inc. — COVID-19 effectively shut down Alaska and CARES Act funds were unavailable to stave off a filing.

• Alpha Entertainment LLC (XFL) — COVID-19 cold-stopped all sports mid-season.

• GGI Holdings LLC (Gold’s Gym) — COVID-19 shuts down gyms nationwide.

• Avianca Holdings SA — COVID-19 and mandated government shutdowns hindered all travel and flight bookings went negative.

Those were just the appetizer. This week things got VERY, VERY, REAL. The Hertz Corporation ($HTZ) became one of the largest chapter 11 bankruptcy filings EVER because COVID-19 put a stop to air travel — the thing that HTZ is most dependent upon in its business. This caused used-car values to fall through the floor and, in turn, effectively blow up the company’s securitization structure. And then LATAM Airlines Group S.A. ($LTM) became the second large latin american airline to file. This should not have been a surprise to anyone.

On May 13 in “✈️ Airlines, Airlines, Airlines ✈️ ,” we wrote about (i) the airline bailout debate engulfing folks in the US, (ii) the Avianca bankruptcy filing, (iii) Virgin Australia’s voluntary administration filing in Australia (after the Aussie government refused to partake in a bailout), (iv) Norway’s attempts to deal with Norwegian Air Shuttle SA’s ($NWARF) troubles, and (v) Boeing Corporation ($BA) CEO Dave Calhoun’s flippant remarks that “it’s probable that a major [US] carrier will go out of business” — yet another example of people confusing the concepts “filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy” with “going out of business and disappearing from the face of the earth.” For the avoidance of doubt, no, they are not necessarily the same thing (outside of retail anyway). In what was not exactly our boldest call, we noted that there would be more COVID-19-spawned action to come — particularly, in the near-term, in Latin America:

Which leaves Latin America’s other air carriers in a bad spot, including Latam Airlines Group SA (the finance unit of which has debt bid in the 30s and 40s), Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA ($GOL)(the finance unit of which has debt bid in the low 40s), and Aerovías de México SA de CV (Aeromexico)(which has debt bid in the 30s). Will one of these be one of the next airlines in bankruptcy court?

Early in the morning on May 26th, LATAM Airlines Group SA (“LATAM Parent, and with 28 direct or indirect subsidiary debtors, the “Debtors”) filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York. It is the fourteenth-largest airline in the world (measured by passengers carried) and Latin America’s leading airline; it services 145 different destinations in 26 countries. Including 20 aircraft leased to non-debtor third-parties, the company has a total fleet of 340 aircraft.

Source: First Day Declaration. Docket #3.

On the strength of this fleet, in 2019, the company did $10.1b in revenue with over $1b of operating cash flow after investments (for the third straight year) and $195.6mm of net income. While the majority of said revenue comes from passenger services, the company also supplements revenues with cargo-related services to 151 destinations in 29 countries (11% of revenue but growing quickly). With four consecutive years of net profits, the company was, as far as airline companies go, doing very well — particularly in Brazil (38% revenue), Chile (16%) and the United States (10%).

Contributing to the positive performance trend is the fact that the company has apparently been executing its business plan quite well. It has rejiggered its cost structure; established new routes; reduced fleet commitments; and upgraded operational execution and customer experience (including the implementation of a frequent flyer program).* Improved operational performance gave the company flexibility in other parts of the business. Notably, the company decreased leverage by $2b — dropping its leverage ratio from 5.8x to 4x. It also reduced its capital fleet commitments by $6.3b from 2015 to 2019. Everything was going in the right direction.

But then COVID-19 caused a 95% reduction in LATAM’s passenger service. All of the business plan execution in the world couldn’t have prepared the Debtors for such a meaningful drop off. To state the obvious, this created an immediate liquidity strain on the business and instantly called the Debtors’ capital structure into question. To address the liquidity situation, the Debtors drew down the entirety of their secured revolving credit facility giving them $707mm total cash on hand (plus another $621 held by non-debtor affiliates). Here is the rest of the Debtors’ largely unsecured capital structure:

The rubber is going to meet the runway with a lot of the aircraft leases. The finance leases are all entered into by special purpose vehicles (“SPVs”) which then lease the planes to LATAM Parent which then subleases the aircraft to other opcos including certain of the Debtors. The SPVs finance the acquisition of aircrafts through various banks, pledging the owned aircraft as collateral. The principal amount outstanding under the various SPV financings is $3.3b.

Meanwhile, the operating leases are entered into with third-party lessors like AerCap Holdings N.V., Aircastle Holding Corporation Limited and Avolon Aerospace Leasing Ltd. The Debtors have negotiated rent deferrals with these parties but, generally, they pay $44mm/month in rent and, all in, have $2.9b in aircraft-related lease liabilities.

Similarly, certain aircraft purchase agreements are likely to be grounded. The company has agreements to purchase 44 aircraft from Airbus S.E. and 7 aircraft from Boeing.

The Debtors seem primed to leverage certain bankruptcy tools here. First and foremost is right-sizing the fleet, which means a lot of the aforementioned agreements will be (or are likely to be) on the chopping block. Indeed, the Debtors have already filed a motion seeking to reject around 19 of them.

Two significant shareholders have agreed to fund $900mm of super-priority DIP financing which will be part of a larger $2.15b DIP Facility (PETITION Note: reminder that Avianca has not sought approval of a DIP credit facility…yet). Given that many Latin American countries have suspended air travel for months (i.e., Argentina through September, Colombia through August) and the US recently announced it would deny entry to non-citizens from Brazil, the Debtors will need this financing to complement the cash already on hand to stay afloat.

Like Hertz and Avianca, it looks like this one will linger in bankruptcy court for awhile as all of the various parties in interest try to figure out what a business plan looks like in a post-COVID world.

*Notably, the company brags that it was able to “…increase available seat kilometers (or ASKs, used to measure an airline’s carrying capacity) by approximately 11%…” which, in turn, contributed to an increase in passengers carried from 68mm to 74mm per year and increased its operational margin from 5% to 7%. This is confirmation of what we already knew: to juice revenues airlines have been engaging in sardine-packing experiment, squeezing as many passengers into a flight as possible. And it worked! Query, however, what will happen to ASKs in a post-COVID-19 world. 🤔

• Jurisdiction: S.D. of New York (Judge Garrity Jr.)

• Capital Structure: see above

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (Richard Cooper, Lisa Schweitzer, Luke Barefoot, Thomas Kessler, David Schwartz) & Togut Segal & Segal LLP (Albert Togut, Kyle Ortiz)

  • Financial Advisor: FTI Consulting Inc.

  • Investment Banker: PJT Partners LP

  • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • Large equityholders: Cueto Group, Delta Air Lines Inc. ($DAL), Chilean Pension Funds,

  • Large Equityholder: Qatar Airways investments UK Ltd.

    • Legal: Alston & Bird LLP (Gerard Catalanello, James Vincequerra)

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors

    • Legal: Dechert LLP (Benjamin Rose)

    • Conflicts Legal: Klestadt Winters Jureller Southard & Stevens LLP

🚘 Special Edition: The Hertz Corporation ($HTZ) 🚘

The Hertz Corporation

May 22, 2020

Go here for our free a$$-kicking write-up about the situation.

• Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware (Judge Walrath)

• Professionals:

  • Legal: White & Case LLP (Thomas Lauria, Matthew Brown, J. Christopher Shore, David Turetsky, Ronald Gorsich, Aaron Colodny, Doah Kim, Jason Zakia) & Richards Layton & Finger PA (Mark Collins, John Knight, Brett Haywood)

  • Canadian Legal: McCarthy Tetrault LLP (David Galainena)

  • Financial Advisor: FTI Consulting Inc. (Michael Buenzow)

  • Investment Banker: Moelis & Co.

  • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • Barclays Bank PLC

    • Legal: Latham & Watkins LLP (George Davis, Suzzanne Uhland, Christopher Harris, Adam Goldberg, Heather Waller, Adam Ravin, Andrew Sorkin) & Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell LLP (Derek Abbott, Andrew Remming)

  • Indenture Trustee: Wells Fargo Bank NA

    • Legal: Foley & Lardner LLP (Mark Hebbeln, Harold Kaplan) & Dorsey & Whitney LLP (Eric Lopez Schnabel, Alessandra Glorioso)

  • Ad Hoc Group of Litigation Creditors

    • Lega: Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP (John Fiero, Colin Robinson)

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors

    • Legal: Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP (Thomas Moers Mayer, Amy Caton, Daniel Eggermann, Alice Byowitz) & Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP (Jennifer Hoover, Kevin Capuzzi, John Gentile)

🚚 New Chapter 11 Filing - Comcar Industries Inc. 🚚

Comcar Industries Inc.

May 17, 2020

Florida-based Comcar Industries Inc. and 31 affiliates (the “debtors”) filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the District of Delaware — the latest trucking company to end up in bankruptcy court (Callback to “🚛 Dump Trucks 🚛 ,” a PETITION deep dive into the industry which included a review of Celadon Group Inc.’s chapter 11 bankruptcy filing). Comcar is a holding company with four stand-alone trucking business units ((as well as (a) logistics services, (b) supplies, parts and repairs, and (c) fleet maintenance services)). Through the bankruptcy filing, the debtors intend to effectuate a sale of all four units.

Each unit services a different part of the trucking market:

• CCC Transportation LLC (“CCC”) is a bulk bulk carrier that primarily handles construction materials;

• CT Transportation LLC (“CT”) is a flatbed carrier that specializes in construction materials;

• CTL Transportation LLC (“CTL”) is a liquid bulk chemical transporter; and

• MCT Transportation LLC (“MTL”) is a refrigerated and dry van commodities transporter.

Formed in the 1950s, the debtors grew over the years in order to provide all of these offerings. To do so, they, naturally, took on debt. Funded debt stands at $64.8mm including an ABL, a term loan, and various real estate-backed loans. Servicing the debt has been a challenge going as far back as 2014.

Trucking industry struggles have compounded matters. Per the debtors:

The trucking industry has experienced significant headwinds starting in 2019. During the first half of 2019, the $800 billion American trucking industry began to experience a recession and a reported 640 trucking companies went bankrupt. By mid-2019, the trucking freight market continued to soften. The combination of a decline in overall freight tonnage and excessive truck capacity in the market led to a significant decline in freight rates, and customers began to take bids at lower freight rates. Compared to the year immediately prior, 2019 showed a steady decline in freight rates, including spot freight rates and contractual rates.

Rates weren’t the only problem. Volumes also declined.

During 2019, truck volumes decreased for nine consecutive months and the trucking industry braced itself for a decrease in demand through the third quarter of 2020. As a result, spot and contract prices, which increased thirty percent (30%) in 2018, decreased twenty percent (20%) in 2019. The decrease in truckload linehaul rates was driven by (1) spot rates that were below contract rates by unsustainably larger margins than, (2) capacity additions and (3) stalled growth in the consumer and industrial economy.

All of this hit the the top and bottom lines. In 2019, the debtors suffered a 26% YOY revenue decrease across all units. CCC got hit the most, down 44.2%. CT got hit the least. Yet even that was down 19.7%. In total, the debtors lost $25mm in 2019 and $6mm through March 27, 2020.

Luckily, as with Celadon Group Inc. previously, there is a market for these trucks. The debtors have a buyer lined up for the CT and CTL businesses for $9mm and $8.6mm, respectively. Similarly, the debtors have a buyer for the MCT business. They would like to proceed with private sales of each of these businesses stating that “…the terms offered … are materially superior to the terms that the Debtors could hope to achieve at any auctions….” Pursuant to the proposed DIP, these sales need to be consummated by the end of July.

The debtors pre-petition ABL and Term Loan lenders (which includes an affiliate of PIMCO) have committed to funding a $15mm DIP — some of which will pay down pre-petition debt, some of which ($1.33mm) will roll-up pre-petition term loans, and the rest for liquidity to fund the cases.

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• Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware (Judge Dorsey)

  1. Capital Structure: $14mm ABL (Sterling National Bank), $25.3mm Term Loan (B2 FIE VIII LLC as lender, US Bank NA as agent), $6.2mm secured real estate loan (CenterState Bank NA), $7mm CWI Real Estate Loan (Commercial Warehousing Inc.),

  2. Professionals:

     • Legal: DLA Piper US LLP (Stuart Brown, Jamila Justine Willis, Tara Nair)

     • Independent Manager: Tobias Keller

     • Financial Advisor/CRO: FTI Consulting Inc. (Andrew Hinkelman)

     • Investment Banker: Bluejay Advisors LLC

     • Claims Agent: Donlin Recano (*click on the link above for free docket access)

  3. Other Parties in Interest:

     • Prepetition ABL Agent: Sterling National Bank

       • Legal: Greenberg Traurig LLP

     • Prepetition Term Loan Agent and DIP Agent: US Bank NA

       • Legal: Seward & Kissel LLP

     • Prepetition Term Loan Lender & DIP Lender: B2 FIE VIII LLC (Pimco)

       • Legal: Latham & Watkins LLP (Jason Bosworth)

🚗 New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - Techniplas LLC 🚗

Techniplas LLC

May 6, 2020

Wisconsin-based Techniplas LLC and seven affiliates (the “debtors”), producers and manufacturers of plastic components used primarily in the automotive and transportation industries, filed for bankruptcy in the District of Delaware. “The Company produces, among other things, automotive products, such as fluid and air management components, decorative and personalization products, and structural components, as well as nonautomotive products, such as power utility and electrical components and water filtration products.” After cobbling together acquisitions over the course of the decade, the debtors’ business is now global in scale and its main customers are the leading OEMs in the US, Europe and Asia; it had net sales of $475mm and a net loss of $21mm in fiscal ‘19.

A bit more about the business. The debtors’ primary operating unit, “Techniplas Core,” acts “…as a manufacturer of technically complex, niche products across a wide range of applications and end markets, including the automotive and truck, industrial, and commercial markets.” This is roughly 83% of the business. In addition, the debtors have “Techniplas Prime,” which, aside from sounding like a Transformer that may or may not have it out for the human race, acts as a matchmaker between excess manufacturing capacity and customers in need of manufacturing. Per the debtors:

Serving as a nexus between customers, including OEMs, and other manufacturing companies, Techniplas Prime acts as an extension of Techniplas Core by delivering to customers the manufacturing capabilities of its Prime Partners. This makes Techniplas Prime asset-light and creates a “win-win” scenario for customers and Prime Partners.

Interestingly, this business segment was once dubbed “The Airbnb of Auto Manufacturing,” a moniker that makes almost zero sense and completely misunderstands the Airbnb model but, yeah sure, cheap “by-association” points, homies! Per Forbes:

[Founder George] Votis saw Techniplas Prime as an e-manufacturing platform from which customers could order parts electronically according to their own specifications, and have them built by local factories with unused capacity.

Except it’s not a platform. Like, at all. Airbnb is a digital two-sided platform that brings hosts and travelers together and seemlessly connects them. Techniplas Prime…well…

…well…page not found. Airbnb may be struggling in this COVID environment but we can assure you that you’re not EVER getting a 404 when going to their site. Platform…pssssfft. The Forbes article later contradicts itself saying:

…they focused on 3-D printing and advanced manufacturing technology companies that had spare capacity available for contract operations, for which Techniplas Prime is essentially the broker.

Right. Being a broker is different than being a platform y’all. But we digress.

The debtors have a simple capital structure consisting of a $17.59mm ABL, $175mm in 10% ‘20 notes, and a $6.77mm interim financing agreement for total funded debt around $200mm. The debtors, primarily due to this capital structure, began pursuing strategic alternatives in early 2017. Both an attempted sale process and debt refinancing failed. Thereafter, the debtors explored in 2018 a term loan refinancing of the preptition notes and/or a public equity listing in London. Those, too, failed. For this, the debtors blame a downturn in the automotive market and uncertainty from Brexit (PETITION Note: we’ve been foreshadowing that declining production capacity by the major OEMs was going to rattle through the supply chain so nobody should be surprised by this revelation).

In mid-’19, an attempted sale to a strategic buyer, private equity firm The Jordan Company, kicked off but that, despite some forward-moving progress involving a note purchase agreement and an unexercised call option for 100% of the membership interests in the debtors, ultimately fell through due to the inability to refi out the pre-petition notes. Subsequent attempts — now involving ad hoc group of noteholders and Jordan — also came close but ultimately failed due to deteriorating operating performance that pre-dated OOVID. COVID merely exacerbated things. Per the debtors:

Many customers suspended or drastically reduced production, resulting in a swift drop in demand for the Debtors’ products. Additionally, many of the locations where the Company had offices and manufacturing plants worldwide issued lockdown orders and permitted only essential business to remain open in an effort to control the outbreak and protect the health and safety of the public.

All of this was too much to handle: Jordan peaced out. Liquidity increasingly became an issue and so the debtors obtained a $6.7mm super senior priority bridge financing from the ad hoc group. Indeed, the ad hoc group is stepping up big here: in addition to providing the liquidity the debtors needed to get in chapter 11, they’ve agreed to provide a DIP ($20-25mm new money with a $100mm roll-up) and serve as stalking horse bidder — offering $105mm to purchase the debtors’ international operations and three remaining US-based manufacturing facilities. The debtors hope to close the sale within 44 days of the petition date.

• Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware (Judge Silverstein)

• Capital Structure: See above.

• Professionals:

  • Legal: White & Case LLP (David Turetsky, Andrew Zatz, Fan He, Robbie Boone Jr., John Ramirez, Sam Lawand, Thomas MacWright) & Fox Rothschild LLP (Jeffrey Schlerf, Carl Neff, Johnna Darby, Daniel Thompson)

  • Financial Advisor/CRO: FTI Consulting Inc. (Peter Smidt, Andrew Hinkelman)

  • Investment Banker: Miller Buckfire & Co. LLC (Richard Klein)

  • Claims Agent: Epiq Corporate Restructuring LLC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • Stalking Horse Purchaser: Techniplas Acquisition Co. LLC

  • Pre-Petition ABL & DIP ABL Agent: Bank of America NA

    • Legal: Sidley Austin LLP (Dennis Twomey, Elliot Bromagen) & Richards Layton & Finger PA (Mark Collins, Amanda Steele, David Queroli)

  • DIP Term Agent: Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB

    • Legal: Cole Schotz PC (Daniel Geoghan, J. Kate Stickles, Patrick Reilley)

  • Indenture Trustee: US Bank NA

    • Legal: Dorsey & Whitney LLP (Eric Lopez Schnabel, Alessandra Glorioso)

  • Ad Hoc Noteholder Group ‘20 10% Senior Secured Notes

    • Legal: Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP (Jonathan Levine, Brian Lohan, Jeffrey Fuisz, Gerardo Mijares-Shafai)

⛽️New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. ($DO)⛽️

Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc.

April 26, 2020

Houston-based Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. and 14 affiliates (the “debtors”), a contract drilling services provider to the oil and gas industry filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas. The company has 15 offshore drilling rigs: 11 semi-submersibles and four ultra-deepwater drillships deployed around the world (primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, Australia, Brazil and UK). Offshore drilling was already challenged due to excess supply of rigs — and has been since 2014. Recent events have made matters much much worse.

Thanks MBS. Thanks Putin. Thanks…uh…debilitating pandemic. The left-right combination of the Saudi/OPEC/Russia oil price war and COVID-19 has the entire oil and gas industry wobbling against the ropes. The pre-existing reality for offshore services companies “worsened precipitously” because of all of this. And so many companies will fall. The question is at what count and at what strength will they be able to get back on their feet. Given that this is a free-fall into bankruptcy with no pre-negotiated deal with lenders, it seems that nobody knows the answer. How could they? More on this below.

Unfortunately, the services segment the debtors play in is particularly at risk. “Almost all” of the debtors’ customers have requested some form of concessions on $1.4b of aggregate contract backlog. One customer, Beach Energy Ltd. ($BEPTF), “recently sought to formally terminate its agreement with the Company” (an action that is now the subject of an adversary proceeding filed in the bankruptcy cases). The debtors have been immersed in negotiations with their contract counter-parties to navigate these extraordinary times. It doesn’t help when business is so concentrated. Hess Corporation ($HES) is 30% of annual revenue; Occidental Petroleum Corporation ($OXY) is 21%; and Petrobras ($PBR) is 20%. BP PLC ($BP) and Royal Dutch Shell ($RDS.A) are other big customers.

With the writing on the wall, the debtors smartly drew down on their revolving credit facility — pulling $436mm out from under Wells Fargo Bank NA ($WFC). WFC must’ve loved that. Times like these really give phrases like “relationship banking” entirely new meaning. The debtors also elected to forgo a $14mm interest payment on its 2039 senior notes. Yep, you read that right: the company previously issued senior notes that weren’t set to mature until 2039. Not exactly Argentina but holy f*ck that expresses some real optimism (and froth) in the markets (and that issuance isn’t even the longest dated maturity but let’s not nitpick here)!

Yeah, so about that capital structure. In total, the debtors have $2.4b in funded debt. In addition to their $442mm of drawing under their revolving credit facility, the debtors have:

• $500mm of 5.7% ‘39 senior unsecured notes;

• $250mm of 3.45% ‘23 senior unsecured notes;

• $750mm of 4.875% ‘43 senior unsecured notes; and

• $500mm of 7.785% ‘25 senor unsecured notes.

As we’ve said time and time again: exploration and production is a wildly capital intensive business.

So now what? As we said above, there’s no deal here. The debtors note:

The Debtors determined to commence these Chapter 11 Cases to preserve their valuable contract backlog, and preserve their approximately $434.9 million in unrestricted cash on hand while avoiding annual interest expense of approximately $140.1 million under the Revolving Credit Facility and the Senior Notes, and to stabilize operations while proactively restructuring their balance sheet to successfully compete in the changing global energy markets. The Debtors and their Advisors believe cash on hand provides adequate funding at the outset of these cases. The Debtors are well-positioned to successfully emerge from bankruptcy with a highly marketable fleet, a solid backlog of activity, a strong balance sheet and liquidity position, and a differentiated approach and set of capabilities. Despite the volatile and current uncertain market conditions, the Debtors remain confident in the need for their industry, its importance around the world, and the critical services they provide.

We suspect the debtors will hang out in bankruptcy for a bit. After all, placing a value on how “critical” these services are in the current environment is going to be a challenge (though the relatively simple capital structure makes that calculation significantly easier…assuming the value extends beyond WFC). One thing seems certain: Loews Corporation ($L) is gonna have to write-down the entirety of its investment here.

*****

We’d be remiss if we didn’t highlight that, similar to Whiting Petroleum’s execs, the debtors’ executives here got paid nice bonuses just prior to the bankruptcy filing. PETITION Note: We don’t have data to back this up but there appeared to be a much bigger uproar in Whiting’s case about this than here. Which is not to say that people aren’t angry — totally factually incorrect — but angry:

Because equity-based comp doesn’t exactly serve as “incentive” when the equity is worth bupkis, the debtors paid $3.55mm to employees a week before the filing and intend to file a motion to seek bankruptcy court approval of their go-forward employee programs.

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• Jurisdiction: S.D. of Texas (Judge Jones)

• Capital Structure: $442mm RCF (inclusive of LOC)(Wells Fargo Bank NA). See above.

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP (Paul Basta, Robert Britton, Christopher Hopkins, Shamara James, Alice Nofzinger, Jacqueline Rubin, Andrew Gordon, Jorge Gonzalez-Corona) & Porter Hedges LLP (John Higgins, Eric English, M. Shane Johnson, Genevieve Graham)

  • Financial Advisor: Alvarez & Marsal LLC (Nicholas Grossi)

  • Investment Banker: Lazard Freres & Co. LLC

  • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • Prepetition RCF Agent: Wells Fargo Bank NA

    • Legal: Bracewell LLP

    • Financial Advisor: FTI Consulting

  • Indenture Trustee: The Bank of New York Mellon

  • Ad Hoc Group of Senior Noteholders

    • Legal: Milbank LLP

    • Financial Advisor: Evercore Group LLC

  • Major Equityholder: Loews Corporation

    • Legal: Sullivan & Cromwell LLP (James Bromley)

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors: The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company NA, National Oilwell Varco LP, Deep Sea Mooring, Crane Worldwide Logistics LLC, Kiswire Trading Inc., Parker Hannifin Corporation, SafeKick Americas LLC

    • Legal: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP (Ira Dizengoff, Philip Dublin, Naomi Moss, Marty Brimmage, Kevin Eide, Patrick Chen, Matthew Breen)

    • Financial Advisor: Berkeley Research Group LLC (Christopher Kearns)

    • Investment Banker: Perella Weinberg Partners LP (Alexander Tracy)

🚢 New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - Speedcast International Limited 🚢

Speedcast International Limited

April 22, 2020

This is a fun one.

Speedcast International Limited, a publicly-traded Australian company headquartered in Houston and 32 affiliates (the “debtors”) filed rare freefall bankruptcy cases in the Southern District of Texas earlier this week. In a week where another 4.4mm people filed for unemployment, one thing seems abundantly clear: the Texas’ bankruptcy courts are going to need help. While Delaware has also been extremely busy, both the Northern District and Southern District of Texas are seeing rock solid bankruptcy flow these days. If the judges got volume bonuses, they’d be rolling in it.

Who’s the big loser? Well, with all of these bankruptcy hearings conducted telephonically, we reckon it’s the city of Houston. In normal times, there’d be a steady stream of suits flushing through the local economy there: staying at the hotels, eating at the restaurants, drinking at the bars. Brutal. But we digress. 🤔

One thing the restructuring industry gives us is an open window into how one domino can topple over others. For instance, the energy and cruise industries are clearly effed currently and so it stands to reason that service providers to those industries would also feel pain. This is where Speedcast comes in: it is a provider of information technology services and (largely satellite-dependent) communications solutions (i.e., cybersecurity, content solutions, data and voice apps, IoT, network systems) to customers in the cruise, energy, government and commercial maritime businesses. They plug a hole: they offer telecom services to users in remote parts around the world, “primarily where there is limited or no terrestrial network.” Picture some evildoer in some decked out yacht-lair somewhere plotting to take over the world Austin Powers-style. He is probably leveraging Speedcast for IT solutions (PETITION Note: we’re just painting a picture folks; we’re not suggesting that the company merely deals with shady-a$$ mofos. Don’t @ us.). The business is truly international in scope.

Putting aside yacht-loving villains, Speedcast has high profile clients. Carnival Corp. ($CCL), for instance, contracted with Speedcast in December 2018 — long before any of Carnival’s customers contracted with the coronavirus. Cruisers streaming reports about their horrific cruise-going experiences likely used Speedcast product to get the word out. 😬 This was a growing business segment. Revenue increased by $36.5mm from fiscal year 2018 to 2019.

Likewise, the debtors’ energy business had also been growing. The debtors provide “high-bandwidth remote communication services to all segments of the global energy industry, including companies involved in drilling and exploration, floating production storage, offloading, offshore service, general service, engineering, and construction.” Revenue there increased from $158.3mm in FY18 to $164.5mm. We’re pretty sure we know which direction that number is heading in FY20.

Similarly, the debtors’ other business segments — Enterprise & Emerging Markets and Government — demonstrated growth between ‘18 and ‘19. All in, this is a $722.3mm revenue business. Unfortunately, it also had net losses of $459.8mm in FY19. So, yeah. There’s that. The debtors’ rapid expansion over the years apparently didn’t lead to immediate synergistic realization and the debtors suffered from margin compression, revenue declines from specific business lines, and other ails that affected performance and liquidity.

While there have been operational issues for some time now, those were just jabs. COVID-19 and the attendant global shutdown body slammed the company. The debtors note:

Further, the lasting and distressed market conditions in the maritime and oil and gas industries, and the recent and dramatic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, have impacted all players in the global marketplace. The Company has been particularly hard hit by these adverse market conditions. The outsized impact on the Company’s Maritime Business and Energy Business customers has manifested in a dramatic reduction in cash receipts. This macroeconomic downturn, along with the above-mentioned headwinds that contributed to the lower than expected FY19 financial results, made clear that the Company would not satisfy the Net Leverage Covenant under the Credit Agreement.

Right. The debt. $689.1mm of it, to be exact (exclusive of financing arrangements) — of which approximately $590mm is a term loan. With a capital structure this simple, one would think that this is a case that is ripe for a prearranged deal memorialized via a pre-petition restructuring support agreement. But no. There isn’t one here. Why not?

The term lenders argue that the debtors engaged them too late in the game. Therefore, there wasn’t enough time to conduct due diligence on the business, they say. Surely quarantine ain’t helping matters on that front. Nor is the fact that the company is international in nature.

And so this is a traditional freefall balance sheet and operational restructuring — something you don’t really see much of anymore. This case looks headed towards either a sale — which we’re guessing is the term lenders preferred outcome (par plus accrued baby!) — or a plan that would equitize the term lenders and put the go-forward financing needs of the debtors on the shoulders of the term lenders. A plan would preserve the debtors’ net operating losses which, as noted above, could be meaningful.

The debtors and the ad hoc lenders did nail down a commitment for a multiple-draw super-priority senior secured term loan DIP which includes a $90mm new money portion ($35mm on an interim basis) and a $90mm roll-up ($35mm on an interim basis). Judge Isgur took some exception to the interim roll-up portion of the proposed facility but the debtors and the lenders were hand-in-hand saying that — particularly under the circumstances today — the interim roll-up was necessary and appropriate because the lenders need a “big incentive” to lend and “the lenders’ capital providers are getting squeezed themselves.” 🤔 (PETITION Note: The DIP market sounds vicious — though some of that, here, is attributable to the nature of the assets. Delta Airlines can place senior secured notes right now at around 7% because, well … duh … planes!). Judge Isgur did caution however that he wants no part of professionals throwing this interim roll-up in his face as precedent in an upcoming case (Um, we’ll see how that plays out…this financing environment ain’t exactly reversing overnight). While the ad hoc lenders are clearly in pole position for the DIP commitment, they’re syndicating the loan now (which would obviously affect the roll-up too). The DIP will push the professionals towards a path forward over the next couple of weeks and the hope is for a result to be consummated within six months.

Interestingly, the largest single unsecured creditor is an entity that suffers from its own issues and has reportedly hired bankruptcy professionals for advice: Intelsat SA is owed $44mm. In late March, Intelsat terminated their contract with the debtors in a pretty savage leverage play. We talk about leverage a lot in PETITION. There’s balance sheet leverage and then there is situational leverage. Intelsat flexed its muscles and exercised the latter. In exchange it got critical vendor designation, acknowledgement of the full amount of their pre-petition claim and mutual releases. Significantly, the debtors stressed the importance of the relationship, noting that the IT services were needed more than ever as vessels sail adjusted routes due to COVID (read: boats are circling around because governments won’t let passengers disembark).

We should know within a few weeks what a deal may look like here.

• Jurisdiction: S.D. of Texas (Judge Isgur)

• Capital Structure: $87.7mm RCF, $591.4mm Term Loan, $10.6mm LOC

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP (Gary Holtzer, Alfredo Perez, David Griffiths, Brenda Funk, Martha Martir, Kelly DiBlasi, Stephanie Morrison, Paul Genender, Amanda Pennington Prugh, Jake Rutherford) & Herbert Smith Freehills LLP

  • Independent Director: Stephe Wilks, Grant Scott Ferguson, Michael Martin Malone, Peter Jackson, Carol Flaton, David Mack)

  • Financial Advisor/CRO: FTI Consulting Inc. (Michael Healy)

  • Investment Banker: Moelis & Company Co. (Paul Rathborne, Adam Waldman)

  • Claims Agent: KCC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • Ad Hoc Group of Secured Lenders

    • Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (Damian Schaible, David Schiff, Jonah Peppiatt, Jarret Erickson) & Rapp & Krock PC (Henry Flores, Kenneth Krock)

    • Financial Advisor: Greenhill & Co. Inc.

  • DIP Agent: Credit Suisse AG

    • Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP (Steven Messina, George Howard, Albert Hogan III, David Wagener)

  • Large Creditor: Intelsat SA

    • Legal: Kirkland & Ellis LLP (Edward Sassower, Steven Serajeddini, Anthony Grossi) & Jackson Walker LLP (Matthew Cavenaugh)

  • Large Creditor: Inmarsat Global Limited

    • Legal: Steptoe & Johnson LLP (Michael Dockterman) & Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP (Jason Boland, Bob Bruner)

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors

    • Legal: Hogan Lovells US LLP (S. Lee Whitesell, John Beck, David Simonds, Ron Silverman, Michael Hefter) & Husch Blackwell LLP (Randall Rios, Timothy Million)

🚗New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - Pace Industries LLC🚗

Pace Industries LLC

April 12, 2020

Arkansas-based Pace Industries LLC and ten affiliates (the “debtors”) — fully-integrated suppliers and manufacturers of aluminum, zinc, and magnesium die cast and finished products in service of several industries (auto, powersports, lawn & garden, lighting & electric, appliances & industrial motors etc.) — filed fully-accepted prepackaged chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in the District of Delaware over the holiday weekend. The plan features one impaired class which voted 100% to equitize pre-petition debt.

A quick digression before we delve into what happened here. COVID-19 provides the ultimate cover for any and all businesses that file for chapter 11 over the next several months. You’re going to see all kinds of companies “clean out the junk” over earnings reports. It will be important, therefore, to parse through company messaging to determine whether they’re just massaging matters or whether, on the other hand, there were fundamental problems confronting the business prior to COVID-19 rearing its ugly head and shutting down the US economy. Where a company discloses that problems existed prior to March, there is absolutely no reason NOT to believe them. So it’s important that the collective we — newsletters writers, journalists, the twitterverse — get things right when talking about the carnage created by COVID-19.

And this case is only partially a COVID-19 story. Given the rush to sensationalize headlines and tweets, this is something we now feel compelled to note with each new bankruptcy filing. While the debtors, like everyone else, have been affected by the virus, it was not the catalyst to the debtors’ filing. The debtors have been seeking new capital sources since the summer of 2018; they initially sought an equity investment but when that couldn’t get done, the debtors shifted towards a sale and marketing process. Any and all initial interest in the debtors’ assets dissipated, however, when the debtors suffered from a poor Q4 ‘19. Interestingly, the disappointing performance was attributable to lower demand in the lighting, BBQ grill and appliance markets. To make matters worse, General Motors Inc’s ($GM) employees went on strike further compressing decreasing automobile production volumes. Moreover, the company self-inflicted some wounds: production inefficiencies relating to new products also hurt performance. Bankruptcy lawyers and advisors were hired in January — long before COVID stormed through and complicated matters further.

The debtors solicited their plan prior to their filing making this a true prepackaged plan. In other words, old school. None of this new solicitation technology; no straddle stuff. The only impaired class, the pre-petition noteholders, voted to accept the plan pursuant to which they would swap $232.1mm in notes for (i) equity in a reorganized LLC (subject to dilution from a management incentive plan AND warrants issued to the debtors’ post-petition DIP term loan lenders) and (ii) take-back term loan paper. This means the new owners will be TCW and Cerberus.

The cases feature a roll-up DIP ABL (which will ultimately be refi’d out through an exit facility) and a post-petition DIP term loan that will be refi’d out via a new term loan exit facility. The aforementioned warrants could amount to 51% of the new post-reorg equity.

This should be a quick case. The DIP terminates in 90 days from the petition date. Given that acceptance was 100% and that general unsecured creditors will be paid in full, this case should, absent other crazy externalities, be in and out of bankruptcy relatively quickly.

• Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware (Judge )

• Capital Structure: $92.1mm ABL, $232.1mm pre-petition notes

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (Matthew Feldman, Rachel Strickland, Debra Sinclair, Melany Cruz Burgos) & Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP (Robert Brady, Edmon Morton, Joseph Mulvihill)

  • Financial Advisor/CRO: FTI Consulting Inc. (Patrick Flynn, Johnathan Miller)

  • Claims Agent: KCC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • DIP Revolver Agent ($125mm): Bank of Montreal

    • Legal: McGuireWoods LLP (Wade Kennedy, Alexandra Shipley, Brian Swett) & Richards Layton & Finger PA (John Knight, Amanda Steele, David Queroli)

  • DIP Term Agent ($50mm): TCW Asset Management Company LLC

    • Legal: Schule Roth & Zabel LLP (Adam Harris, Kelly Knight) & Landis Rath & Cobb LLP (Adam Landis)

📺 New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - Frontier Communications Inc. ($FTR) 📺

Frontier Communications Inc.

April 14, 2020

We often highlight how, particularly in the case of oil and gas companies, capital intensive companies end up with a lot of debt and a lot of debt often results in bankruptcy. In the upstream oil and gas space, exploration and production companies need a lot of upfront capital to, among other things, enter into royalty interest agreements with land owners, hire people to map wells, hire people to drill the earth, secure proper equipment, procure the relevant inputs and more. E&P companies literally have to shell out to pull out.

Similarly, telecommunications companies that want to cover a lot of ground require a lot of capital to do so. From 2010 through 2016, Connecticut-based Frontier Communications Inc. ($FTR) closed a series of transactions to expand from a provider of telephone and DSL internet services in mainly rural areas to a large telecommunications provider to both rural and urban markets across 29 states. It took billions of dollars in acquisitions to achieve this. Which, in turn, meant the company took on billions of dollars of debt to finance said acquisitions. $17.5b, to be exact. Due, in large part, to the weight of that heavy debt load, it, and its 28922932892 affiliates (collectively, the “debtors”), are now chapter 11 debtors in the Southern District of New York (White Plains).*

The debtors underwrote the transactions with the expectation that synergistic efficiencies would be borne out and flow to the bottom line. PETITION readers know how we feel about synergies: more often than not, they prove elusive. Well:

Serving the new territories proved more difficult and expensive than the Company anticipated, and integration issues made it more difficult to retain customers. Simultaneously, the Company faced industry headwinds stemming from fierce competition in the telecommunications sector, shifting consumer preferences, and accelerating bandwidth and performance demands, all redefining what infrastructure telecommunications companies need to compete in the industry. These conditions have contributed to the unsustainability of the Company’s outstanding funded debt obligations—which total approximately $17.5 billion as of the Petition Date.

Shocker. Transactions that were meant to be accretive to the overall enterprise ended up — in conjunction with disruptive trends and intense competition — resulting in an astronomical amount of value destruction.

As a result of these macro challenges and integration issues, Frontier has not been able to fully realize the economies of scale expected from the Growth Transactions, as evidenced by a loss of approximately 1.3 million customers, from a high of 5.4 million after the CTF Transaction closed in 2016 to approximately 4.1 million as of January 2020. Frontier’s share price has dropped … reflecting a $8.4 billion decrease in market capitalization.

😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬

Consequently, the debtors have been in a state of liability management ever since the end of 2018. Subsequently, they (i) issued new secured notes to refinance a near(er)-term term loan maturity, (ii) amended and extended their revolving credit facility, and (iii) agreed to sell their northwest operations and related assets for $1.352b (the “Pacific Northwest Transaction”). The Pacific Northwest Transaction has since been hurdling through the regulatory approval process and seems poised to close on April 30, 2020.**

While all of these machinations were positive steps, there were still major issues to deal with. The capital structure remained robust. And “up-tier” exchanges of junior debt into more senior debt to push out near-term maturities were, post-Windstream***, deemed too complex, too short-term, and too likely to end up the subject of fierce (and costly) litigation**** As the debtors’ issued third quarter financials that were … well … not good, they announced a full drawn down of their revolver, instantly arming them with hundreds of millions of dollars of liquidity.

$FTR with the clean sweep - Revs, margins, ebitda, FCF, churn, subs, ARPC all worse sequentially. https://t.co/vn49m5PDPP

— JV (@AyyouEm) November 5, 2019

The company needed reconstructive surgery. Band-aids alone wouldn’t be enough to dam the tide. In many respects, the company ought to be commended for opting to address the problem in a wholesale way rather than piecemeal kick, kick, and kick the can down the road — achieving nothing but short-term fixes to the enrichment of really nobody other than its bankers (and Aurelius).

And so now the company is at the restructuring support agreement stage. Seventy-five percent of the holders of unsecured notes have agreed to an equitization transaction — constituting an impaired consenting class for a plan of reorganization to be put on file within 30 days. Said another way, the debtors are taking the position that the value breaks within the unsecured debt. That is, that the value is at least $6.6b making the $10.949b of senior unsecured notes the “fulcrum security.” Unsecured noteholders reportedly include Elliott Management Corp., Apollo Global Management LLC, Franklin Resources Inc., and Capital Group Cos. They would end up the owners of the reorganized company.

What else is the RSA about?

• Secured debt will be repaid in full on the effective date;

• A proposed DIP (more on this below) would roll into an exit facility;

• The unsecured noteholders would, in addition to receiving equity, get $750mm of seniority-TBD take-back paper and $150mm of cash (and board seats);

• General unsecured creditors would ride through and be paid in full; and

• Holders of secured and unsecured subsidiary debt will be reinstated or paid in full.

The debtors also obtained a fully-committed new money DIP of $460mm from Goldman Sachs Bank USA. This has proven controversial. Though the DIP motion was not up for hearing along with other first day relief late last week, the subject proved contentious. The Ad Hoc First Lien Committee objected to the DIP. Coming in hot, they wrote:

Beneath the thin veneer in which these so-called “pre-arranged” cases are packaged, lies multiple infirmities that, if not properly addressed by the Debtors, will ultimately result in the unraveling of these cases. While the Debtors seek to shroud themselves in a restructuring support agreement (the “RSA”) that enjoys broad unsecured creditor support, the truth is that underlying that support is a fragile house of cards that will not withstand scrutiny as these cases unfold. Turning the bankruptcy code on its head, the Debtors attempt through their RSA to pay unsecured bondholders cash as a proxy for their missed prepetition interest payment, postpetition interest to yet other unsecured creditors of various subsidiaries, and complete repayment to prepetition revolver lenders that are attempting, through the proposed debtor-inpossession financing (the “DIP Loan”), to effectively “roll-up” their prepetition exposure through the DIP Loan, all while the Debtors attempt to deprive their first lien secured creditors of contractual entitlements to default interest and pro rata payments they will otherwise be entitled to if their debt is to be unimpaired, as the RSA purports to require. While those are fights for another day, their significance in these cases must not be overlooked.

Whoa. That’s a lot. What does it boil down to? “F*ck you, pay me.” The first lien lenders are pissed that everyone under the sun is getting taken care of in the RSA except them.

• You want to deny us our default interest. F+ck you, pay me.

• You want a DIP despite having hundreds of millions of cash on hand and $1.3b of sale proceeds coming in? F+ck you, pay me.

• You want a 2-for-1 roll-up where, “as a condition to raising $460 million in debtor-in-possession financing, the Debtors must turn around and repay $850 million to their prepetition revolving lenders, thus decreasing the Debtors’ overall liquidity on a net basis”? F+ck you, pay me.

• You shirking our pro rata payments we’d otherwise be entitled to if our debt is to be unimpaired? F+ck you, pay me.

• You want to pay unsecured senior noteholders “incremental payments” of excess cash to compensate them for skipped interest payments without paying us default interest and pro rata payments? F+ck you, pay me.

• You want to use sale proceeds to pay down unsecureds when that’s ours under the first lien docs? F+ck you, pay me.

• You want to pay interest on the sub debt without giving us default interest? F+ck you, pay me.

• You want to do all of this without a proper adequate protection package for us? F+ck you, pay me.

The second lien debtholders chimed in, voicing similar concerns about the propriety of the adequate protection package. For the uninitiated, adequate protection often includes replacement liens on existing collateral, super-priority claims emanating out of those liens, payment of professional fees, and interest. In this case, both the first and second liens assert that default interest — typically several bps higher — ought to be included as adequate protection. The issue, however, was not up for hearing on the first day so all of this is a preview of potential fireworks to come if an agreement isn’t hashed out in coming weeks.

The debtors hope to have a confirmation order within four months with the effective date within twelve months (the delay attributable to certain regulatory approvals). We wish them luck.

______

*Commercial real estate is getting battered all over the place but not 50 Main Street, Suite 1000 in White Plains New York. Apparently Frontier Communications has an office there too. Who knew there was a speciality business in co-working for bankrupt companies? In one place, you’ve got FULLBEAUTY Brands Inc. and Internap Inc. AND Frontier Communications. We previously wrote about this convenient phenomenon here.

**The company seeks an expedited hearing in bankruptcy court seeking approval of it. It is scheduled for this week.

***Here is a Bloomberg video from June 2019 previously posted in PETITION wherein Jason Mudrick of Mudrick Capital Management discusses the effect Windstream had on Frontier and predicted Frontier would be in bankruptcy by the end of the year. He got that wrong. But did it matter to him? He also notes a CDS-based short-position that would pay out if Frontier filed for bankruptcy within 12 months. For CDS purposes, looks like he got that right. By the way, per Moody’s, here was the spread on the CDS around the time that Mudrick acknowledged his CDS position:

Here it was a few months later:

And, for the sake of comparison, here was the spread on the CDS just prior to the bankruptcy filing last week:

Clearly the market was keenly aware (who wasn’t given the missed interest payment?) that a bankruptcy filing was imminent: insurance on FTR got meaningfully more expensive. Other companies with really expensive CDS these days? Neiman Marcus Group (which, Reuters reports, may be filing as soon as this week), J.C. Penney Corporation Inc., and Chesapeake Energy Corporation.

****Notably, Aurelius Capital Management LP pushed for an exchange of its unsecured position into secured notes higher in the capital structure — a proposal that would achieve the triple-frontier-heist-like-whammy of better positioning their debt, protecting the CDS they sold by delaying bankruptcy, and screwing over junior debtholders like Elliott (PETITION Note: we really just wanted to squeeze in a reference to the abominably-bad NFLX movie starring Ben Affleck, an unfortunate shelter-in indulge). On the flip side, funds such as Discovery Capital Management LLC and GoldenTree Asset Management LP pushed the company to file for bankruptcy rather than engage in Aurelius’ proposed exchange.

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• Jurisdiction: S.D. of New York (Judge Drain)

• Capital Structure: $850mm RCF, $1.7b first lien TL (JP Morgan Chase Bank NA), $1.7b first lien notes (Wilmington Trust NA), $1.6b second lien notes (Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB), $10.95mm unsecured senior notes (The Bank of New York Mellon), $100mm sub secured notes (BOKF NA), $750mm sub unsecured notes (U.S. Bank Trust National Association)

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Kirkland & Ellis LLP (Stephen Hessler, Chad Husnick, Benjamin Rhode, Mark McKane, Patrick Venter, Jacob Johnston)

  • Directors: Kevin Beebe, Paul Keglevic, Mohsin Meghji

  • Financial Advisor: FTI Consulting Inc. (Carlin Adrianopoli)

  • Investment Banker: Evercore Group LLC (Roopesh Shah)

  • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • Major equityholders: BlackRock Inc., Vanguard Group Inc., Charles Schwab Investment Management

  • Unsecured Notes Indenture Trustee: Bank of New York Mellon

    • Legal: Reed Smith LLP (Kurt Gwynne, Katelin Morales)

  • Indenture Trustee and Collateral Agent for the 8.500% ‘26 Second Lien Secured Notes

    • Legal: Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti LLP (Joseph Schwartz, Curtis Plaza, Tara Schellhorn)

  • Credit Agreement Administrative Agent: JPMorgan Chase Bank NA

    • Legal: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP (Sandeep Qusba, Nicholas Baker, Jamie Fell)

  • DIP Agent: Goldman Sachs Bank USA

    • Legal: Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (Eli Vonnegut, Stephen Piraino, Samuel Wagreich)

  • Ad Hoc First Lien Committee

    • Legal: Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP (Brian Hermann, Gregory Laufer, Kyle Kimpler, Miriam Levi)

    • Financial Advisor: PJT Partners LP

  • Second lien Ad Hoc Group

    • Legal: Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP (Susheel Kirpalani, Benjamin Finestone, Deborah Newman, Daniel Holzman, Lindsay Weber)

  • Ad Hoc Senior Notes Group

    • Legal: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP (Ira Dizengoff, Philip Dublin, Naomi Moss)

    • Financial Advisor: Ducera Partners LLC

  • Ad Hoc Committee of Frontier Noteholders

    • Legal: Milbank LLP (Dennis Dunne, Samuel Khalil, Michael Price)

    • Financial Advisor: Houlihan Lokey Inc.

  • Ad Hoc Group of Subsidiary Debtholders

    • Legal: Shearman & Sterling LLP (Joel Moss, Jordan Wishnew)

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors

    • Legal: Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP (Amy Caton, Douglas Mannal, Stephen Zide, Megan Wasson)

    • Financial Advisor: Alvarez & Marsal LLC (Richard Newman)

    • Investment Banker: UBS Securities LLC (Elizabeth LaPuma)

⛽️New Chapter 11 Filing - CARBO Ceramics Inc. ($CRRT)⛽️

CARBO Ceramics Inc.

March 29, 2020

Houston-based CARBO Ceramics Inc. and two affiliates (the “debtors”) are the latest oil and gas servicers to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy; they are manufacturers and sellers of ceramic tech products and services and ceramic proppant for oilfield, industrial and environmental markets. Make no mistake, though: they are indexed heavily to the oil and gas market.

Here’s a paragraph that literally scores of companies ought to just copy and paste (with limited edits) over the next several months as a wave of oil and gas companies crash into the bankruptcy system:

Beginning in late 2014, a severe decline in oil prices and continued decline in natural gas prices led to a significant decline in oil and natural gas drilling activities and capital spending by E&P companies. While modest price recoveries have occurred intermittently since that time, prices have generally remained depressed and recently fell precipitously again to near record low levels. The Company’s financial performance is directly impacted by activity levels in the oil and natural gas industry. A downturn in oil and natural gas prices and sustained headwinds facing the E&P industry have resulted in both reduced demand for the Company’s products and services and reduced prices the Company is able to charge for those products and services. Because drilling activity has been reduced over a protracted period of time, demand for all of the Company’s products and services (proppant, in particular) has been significantly depressed.

They can then follow it up with some astounding business performance figures like:

From 2014 to 2019, the Company’s total revenue for base ceramic media fell from approximately $530 million to approximately $34 million.

BOOM!

Of course, this financial pain will trickle down to others. Like railcar and distribution center lessors, among others.

The debtors have a consensual deal with their pre-petition secured lenders, Wilks Brothers LLC and Equify Financial LLC, to equitize their debt — including maybe the DIP if its not rolled into an exit facility. The deal is interesting because it provides 100% recovery to unsecured creditors of two debtors and a cash payment option to unsecured debtors of the main debtor. The lenders will see a liquidating trust with a whopping $100k so that certain avoidance actions can be pursued. And, finally, there’s a “death trap.” If the unsecured creditors vote to accept the plan, the pre-petition secured creditors will waive their “very significant unsecured deficiency claim.” If not, they’ll flood them into oblivion. Of course, this statement implies that the value of the business is negligible at this point. Reminder: revenue dipped from $530mm to $34mm in 2019. Can’t imagine numbers for 2020 are looking particularly rosy either. Finally, all of the above is subject to a “fiduciary out” — you know, in case, by some miracle, someone else actually wants this business (spoiler alert: nobody will).

Also interesting is the value of the NOLs here which dwarf the funded debt. 🤔

Wilks will fund a $15mm DIP to finance the cases with $5mm needed within the first 14 days of the cases. This, however, is subject to what we’ll call “The COVID-caveat.” Per the company:

The DIP Budget is based on information known to date and is the best estimate of the Debtors’ current expectations. It should be noted that the global outbreak of the COVID-19 virus and the severe disruption and volatility in the market has caused and continues to cause major challenges across all industries and may ultimately result in the Debtors’ falling short of their forecasted receipts.

Interestingly, they note further:

The Company’s New Iberia facility is currently non-operational due to a state-wide shelter-in-place order, but the Company, pursuant to applicable state law, is continuing to pay its employees. While the shelter-in-place order could terminate by April 10, 2020, it is possible that the order will be extended.

While the Company’s other facilities in Alabama and Georgia are still operational, it is possible that these states will also enact shelter-in-place orders in the near term that will force these facilities to go non-operational.

The simultaneous supply and demand shock in the oil market is unprecedented and may cause a substantial strain on or reduction in collections from the Company’s primary customers, many of whom are dependent on oil prices.

None of this is surprising but it’s interesting to see the various x-factors that are now part of the DIP sizing process.

As you all very well know, these are extraordinary times.

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• Jurisdiction: S.D. of Texas (Judge Isgur)

• Capital Structure: $65mm RCF (Wilks Brothers LLC & Equify Financial LLC)

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Vinson & Elkins LLP (Matthew Moran, Matthew Struble, Garrick Smith, Paul Heath, David Meyer, Michael Garza) & Okin Adams LLP (Matthew Okin, Johnie Maraist)

  • Financial Advisor: FTI Consulting Inc.

  • Investment Banker: Perella Weinberg Partners LP (Jakub Mlecsko)

  • Claims Agent: Epiq (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • Prepetition Secured Lender & Major Equityholder: Wilks Brothers LLC & Equify Financial LLC

    • Legal: Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (Greg Wilkes, Francisco Vazquez)

    • Financial Advisor: Ankura Consulting Group LLC

🛰New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - OneWeb Global Limited🛰

OneWeb Global Limited

March 27, 2020

We have been complaining for months about how bankruptcy was getting boring. There are only so many retail, oil and gas, biopharma or mass tort cases to write about before things start to get really … and we mean REALLY … monotonous. And so a shout out to Softbank’s Masa Son: as always, you’ve supplied some much needed novelty to the mix! Amidst countless stories of one Softbank portfolio company after another getting a new directive, fresh discipline or retraded on deals (cough, WeWork), portfolio company OneWeb Global Limited and eighteen affiliates (the “debtors”) filed for bankruptcy.

As far as Softbank investments go, the debtors are SOOOOOOOO on brand. It is almost literally a “moonshot,” an uber-ambitious project aiming to deploy “the world’s first global satellite communications network to deliver high-throughput, high-speed, low-latency Internet connectivity services, having an ability of channeling 50 megabits per second, with a latency of less than 50 millisecond, and capable of connecting everywhere, to everyone.” Since 2012, the debtors have been developing a low-Earth orbit satellite constellation system and associated ground infrastructure “capable of delivering communication services for use by consumers, businesses, governmental entities, and institutions, including schools, hospitals, and other end-users whether on the ground, in the air, or at sea.” This means they have started mass producing small satellites, acquiring various authorizations and spectrum icenses (i.e., the use of Ku-band and Ka-band radio-frequency spectrum on a global basis) and domestic market access/services authorizations; they have also completed three launches of 70 satellites in the last year. “OneWeb was well on its way to growing its constellation to 648 satellites with the goal of beginning customer service demonstrations in late 2020 and providing full global commercial coverage by late 2021 or early 2022.” Right. Just like Uber Inc. ($UBER) is delivering autonomous cars and WeWork is sustainably spreading its community-first mission across the world. You have to hand it to Masa Son: the man has some vision. Some entrepreneurial spirit. Eventually, though, there has to be money to support the ambition.

Right. So, about the money. The debtors have raised a lot of it — no surprise considering the capital intensive nature of the business. The raises include:

• A $500mm equity raise backed by Airbus Group Inc. Hughes Network Systems LLC, Intelsat Corporation, Qualcomm Incorporated and Virgin Group Ltd.

• A $1.2b equity raise, $1b of which came from Softbank Group Corp. and the other $200mm from existing investors.

• A $408mm note issuance to Softbank as administrative and collateral agent.

• A $1.56b senior note issuance (and corresponding warrant issue) secured by substantially all of the debtors’ assets including share pledges and rights to radiofrequency authorizations. This issuance rolled-up the $408mm note.

In total, the debtors has over $1.73b in funded debt outstanding as of the petition date on top of the $1.7b of equity raised.

And yet it is in bankruptcy first and foremost because of liquidity issues. As a development stage company, it is what the venture capitalists would call “pre-revenue.” Worse than that, development is time-consuming and expensive and the build out of the debtors’ systems “exhausted [their] existing equity and debt financing.” Again, this is Softbank: massive cash burn is part of its playbook. We’ve all seen this movie before. There’s always tons of money until — poof! — suddenly there’s not. Since 2019, the debtors have been seeking investments from existing and new investors but nobody would bite. It seems that investors hesitated to throw good money after bad; it is also safe to presume that, by this point, a certain level of post-WeWork-fiasco Softbank taint burdened the process. Investors are leery of lighting good money on fire after bad.

Toss in COVID-19 and we’ve got ourselves a combustible situation. Per the debtors:

OneWeb had been hopeful to achieve an out of court solution to its deteriorating liquidity position. After several due diligence meetings during the first and second weeks of March 2020, the Company believed that it was going to be able to secure a long-term funding arrangement from existing shareholders. However, on March 12, 2020, as the markets began to feel the impact of COVID-19, OneWeb was notified that its current investors would not commit to a long term solution. On March 16, 2020, OneWeb entered into a term sheet for bridge financing to be consummated by March 26, 2020. On March 21, 2020, the Company was notified that the bridge financing offer was unavailable. Unfortunately, the anticipated funding opportunities OneWeb pursued were significantly and precipitously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting shuttering of the global economy. OneWeb, in an effort to preserve liquidity during these difficult social, political, and economic times, began shutting down nonessential aspects of its business in order to preserve the value of its existing assets.

Consequently, the debtors laid off 90% of their workforce and halted development. With the consensual use of Softbank’s cash collateral, the debtors filed chapter 11 “to provide them with the necessary breathing space to wait-out the current instability of the financial markets as they respond to COVID-19 pandemic and to adequately market and monetize their assets.”

Given the volatility currently in the market, there’s no telling how long they’ll have to wait.

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• Jurisdiction: S.D. of New York (Judge )

• Capital Structure: see above.

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Milbank LLP (Dennis Dunne, William Schumacher, Andrew Leblanc, Tyson Lomazow, Lauren Doyle)

  • Financial Advisor: FTI Consulting Inc.

  • Investment Banker: Guggenheim Securities LLC

  • Claims Agent: Omni Agent Solutions (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • Softbank

    • Legal: Morrison & Foerster LLP (Gary Lee, Todd Goren)

  • Collateral Agent: GLAS

    • Legal: Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer (Jonathan Levine)

  • EchoStar Operating LLC and Hughes Network Systems LLC

    • Legal: White & Case LLP (Thomas Lauria, Harrison Denman, John Ramirez)

  • Airbus DS Satnet LLC and Airbus Group Proj B.V.

    • Legal: Hogan Lovells US LLP (Ronald Silverman, Christopher Bryant, M. Hampton Foushee, Craig Ulman)
      

🌑New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - Foresight Energy Inc.🌑

Foresight Energy Inc.

March 10, 2020

Are there any coal companies left out there that HAVEN’T filed for bankruptcy at this point?

As expected by everyone, thermal coal producer Foresight Energy LP and numerous affiliates (the “debtors”) filed a “prearranged” bankruptcy on Tuesday in the District of Missouri.

Observers have long recognized that this chapter 11 filing was a fait accompli. The debtors are inextricably linked to Murray Energy, which filed late last year. The difference here, though, is that Foresight’s capital structure is FAR less complex and, because of that among other reasons, the debtors had the luxury of a bit more time to sit back and wait and see how the Murray bankruptcy played out. The debtors also had the luxury of taking their time — which is not to say that things haven’t been a sprint over the last several months — to come to terms on a deal with their lenders to emerge from bankruptcy with a significantly de-levered balance sheet. Indeed, that is the literal plan here.

The debtors have entered into restructuring support agreements with significant and meaningful percentages of holders of first lien loans and second lien notes. Moreover, the debtors have agreements with several key contract counterparties. The end result? The debtors will eliminate over $1b of debt, shed some burdensome royalty and contractual obligations, and get a new money infusion so that it can — against the odds in this hyper-negative-to-coal environment — be better positioned to survive. The reorganized entity, assuming the deal holds, will have $225mm of senior secured debt on it (which will roll in the proposed $175mm DIP facility).*

*The proposed DIP facility includes a new money multi-draw term loan facility of $100mm and a $75mm roll-up of pre-petition first lien debt into a DIP term loan.

• Jurisdiction: D. of MO (Judge Surratt-States)

• Capital Structure: $157mm RCF, $743.3mm first lien term loan, $425mm 11.5% ‘23 second lien notes

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP (Paul Basta, Alice Belisle Eaton, Alexander Woolverton) & Armstrong Teasdale LLP (Richard Engel Jr., John Willard, Kathryn Redmond)

  • Financial Advisor: FTI Consulting Inc. (Alan Boyko)

  • Investment Banker: Jefferies Group LLC

  • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • Ad Hoc First Lien Group

    • Legal: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP (Brad Kahn, Ira Dizengoff, Zachary Dain Lanier, James Savin) & Thompson Coburn LLP (Mark Bossi)

  • Second Lien Notes Trustee: Wilmington Trust NA

  • Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP

    • Legal: Milbank LLP (Dennis Dunne, Parker Milender)

  • DIP Agent ($175mm): Cortland Capital Market Services LLC

🌑New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - Hartshorne Holdings LLC🌑

Hartshorne Holdings LLC

February 20, 2020

You have to hand it to creative name conventions. Especially when viewed from the lens of restructuring where all we see are BlackRock, StonePoint, Stone Hill, Owl Creek, Owl Rock, Oak Hill, etc. etc. For some reason trees, owls and rock formations are the only things that convey “steward of capital,” it seems. If we were starting a fund we’d go with something far more interesting. Giantsbane Capital, for instance. Or Hartshorne Capital. Sadly, Hartshorne is already taken. It’s the name of the latest coal company to file for bankruptcy (#MAGA!).

Kentucky-based Hartshorne Holdings LLC and three affiliates (the “debtors”) mine thermal coal — the kind used for power production — in the Illinois Coal Basin Western Kentucky. Per the debtors:

The Western Kentucky area is among the best mining jurisdictions in the United States due to its proximity to utility companies and access to low cost power, transportation and a non-union labor pool. Mining conditions at the Poplar Grove Mine are generally similar to those encountered in neighboring mines, which rank as some of the most productive room-and-pillar thermal coal operations in the United States.

In this first instance, this sounds highly positive. As does the fact that the debtors are party to (a) two fixed-priced coal sales contracts and a (b) fuel purchase order — all on terms that are “economically advantageous” for the debtors. So, what gives?

Well, for starters, we all know the macro issues. The coal industry is in secular decline, capitulating under the weight of declining commodity prices (induced in part by fracking and a US-based natural gas boom), reduced coal-based power capacity, and regulatory compliance constraints. Sh*t, are there any coal companies that haven’t gone bankrupt yet (yeah, yeah, Foresight Energy, but that’s coming and y’all know it).*

As if the macro conditions aren’t bad enough, this company ran into every operational issue under the sun. You name it, these guys experienced it:

• Unexpected geological soil issues. ✅

• Water issues. ✅

• Delays caused by encountering a geological fault. ✅

• Poor conditions for mine car movement. ✅

• Increased mine car battery changes (due to the poor conditions). ✅

• Less-than-expected processing yields. ✅

So while the debtors had economically advantageous contracts, they nevertheless couldn’t operate in such a way that was sustainable. Liquidity became extremely tight and, due to that, the debtors’ lenders refused to continue to finance the business. Any out-of-court resolution, therefore, became unrealistic and here we are. The debtors will now seek a sale of their assets in bankruptcy.

__________

*The debtors note:

Thermal coal demand in the domestic electric power sector has declined from 935 million tons in 2011 to 636 million tons in 2018 and coal has seen its share of the domestic electricity generation market reduce from 43% in 2011 to 31% in 2017.

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• Jurisdiction: W.D. of Kentucky (Judge Fulton)

• Capital Structure: $42.6mm Term Loan, $9mm Royalty Interest (SP2 Royalty Co. LLC)

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Squire Patton Boggs US LLP (Stephen Lerner, Norman Kinel, Nava Hazan, Travis McRoberts, Kyle Arendsen, Maura McIntyre) & Frost Brown Todd LLC (Edward King, Bryan Sisto)

  • Financial Advisor/CRO: FTI Consulting Inc. (Bertrand Troiano)

  • Investment Banker: Perella Weinberg Partners LP

  • Claims Agent: Stretto (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • Pre-Petition Senior Secured & DIP Agent ($7.5mm): Tribeca Global Resources Credit Pty Ltd

    • Legal: Wyatt Tarrant & Combs LLP (John Brice)

New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy & CCAA Filing - Pier 1 Imports Inc. ($PIR)

Pier 1 Imports Inc.

February 17, 2020

Fort Worth, Texas-based Pier 1 Imports Inc. and seven affiliates (the “debtors”) have fulfilled their obvious destiny and finally fallen into bankruptcy court in the Eastern District of Virginia. Contemporaneously, the debtors filed a CCAA proceeding in Canada to effectuate the closure of all Canadian operations. Color us pessimistic but we’re not feeling so great about the debtors’ go-forward chances in the US either.

We’ve covered the debtors ad nauseum in previous editions of PETITION. Here — supported by an ode to “Anchorman” — we described the debtors’ recent HORRIFIC financial performance and noted how a bankruptcy would be sure to confuse a peanut gallery accustomed to spouting regular (and sometimes inaccurate) hot takes about how private equity is killing retail.* We wrote:

The reaction to this surely-imminent bankruptcy (and, if we had a casino near us, liquidation) is going to be interesting. It is sure to flummox the “Private Equity is Killing Retail” camp because, well, it’s not PE-backed. Similarly it’ll confuse the “You Shouldn’t Put So Much Debt on Retail” cohort because, well, there really isn’t that much debt on the company’s balance sheet. Chuckling in the corner will be “The US is Over-Stored” team … And “The Millennials Aren’t Buying Homes and Furnishing Them With Chinese-Made Tchotchkes” gang (thanks a ton, Marie Kondo) … And the “Management Has Blown Chunks, The Assortment Sucks” bunch … And, finally, “The Amazon Effect” squad….

Over the weekend, The New York Times ran a piece from Austan Goolsbee, an economics professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, that — no disrespect to the professor — says many of the same things PETITION has been saying for a LONG LONG time. That is, “The Amazon Effect” is overstated. He argues that “three major economic forces have had an even bigger impact on brick-and-mortar retail than the internet has”: (1) big box stores, (2) income inequality, and (3) the preference shift away from goods towards services. It’s fair to say that these three forces affected the debtors in a big big way.**

Who’s actually surprised #Pier1 is closing when they charge like $100 for a decorative pillow? $60 for a vanilla candle that’s also at Walmart for $5? PASS. People still shopping at a Pier 1 clearly haven’t heard of Home Goods or TJ Maxx

— Nicole (@Choley2007) February 17, 2020

Surely, e-commerce has a lot to do with it too. As one PETITION advisor said about the debtors’ wares yesterday:

“You can just order that sh*t online. You don’t need to try it on.”

It’s a fair point.

Another fair point that Mr. Goolsbee omits from his analysis is the role of management. It’s safe to say that the US is suffering from an epidemic of retail ineptitude.

Also management sucks

— TheHappySoul Goddess (@Yahiness11) February 17, 2020

And like the coronavirus, it keeps spreading from one retailer to the next.***

This has to be one of the most under-covered aspects of the #retailapocalypse: just a revolving door of execs moving from one troubled retailer to the next and everyone hoping and praying that that person can suddenly conjure up an answer. $ASNA $FRANhttps://t.co/5lmoMJFEAE

— 💥PETITION💥 (@petition) February 14, 2020

But we digress.

The business has clearly suffered:

From fiscal years 2014 to 2018, the company’s net income dropped from $108 million to about $11.6 million and in fiscal year 2019 Pier 1 experienced a $198.8 million loss.

So, what’s the upshot here? The debtors announced a plan support agreement and intend to use the chapter 11 bankruptcy process to (a) continue to shutter the previously announced ~450 stores (read: get ready for a lot of lease rejections) and (b) pursue a sale pursuant to a chapter 11 plan of reorganization of what remains of the debtors’ business. Frankly, this was masterful messaging: the announcement relating to a plan support agreement and potential plan of…wait for it…”reorganization”(!) head-faked the entire market into thinking this thing might actually be salvageable. That’s where the fine print comes in.

The debtors have dubbed this an “all weather” chapter 11 plan because it provides for either a sale or the equitization of the term loan at the term lenders’ election. This begs the question: will Pathlight Capital LP want to own this thing?🤔 This bit was eye-catching:

“To be clear, the term loan lenders have made no decision at this point, but instead support the process as outlined in the plan support agreement.”

Yeah, we bet they do. Qualified bids will be due on or before March 23 and the lenders have until March 27 to make their election. Which way will the winds blow?

Note that “the process” isn’t currently supported by a stalking horse purchaser. 🤔

Note further that the debtors are required under the DIP to distribute informational packages and solicitations for sale of the debtors’ assets on a liquidation basis to liquidators by March 9.🤔 🤔

It seems reasonably clear from the Pier 1 bankruptcy papers that none of the Debtors, the professionals nor the lenders expect this turd to actually find a buyer outside of the liquidator type.

— 💥PETITION💥 (@petition) February 18, 2020

It looks like we’ll know the answer very soon.

To finance the cases, the debtors obtained a committed for a $256mm DIP credit facility. The facility includes a $200mm revolving loan commitment and a $15mm first in last out term loan, each provided 50/50 by Bank of America N.A. and Wells Fargo National Association, and a $41.2mm term loan from Pathlight. This was the pre-petition capital structure:

The DIP effectively just rolls up much of the pre-petition debt. There is no new money. The messaging here, then, is also critical: the DIP facility ought to provide customers, vendors and employees comfort that there is access to liquidity if needed. Cash collateral usage, however, is the main driver here: the debtors believe that operating cash flow will suffice to handle working capital needs and bankruptcy expenses.

To summarize, we have another distressed retailer that is scratching and clawing to live. They’ve taken all of the usual steps to extend runway: cost cuts, footprint minimalization, new management. Bankruptcy is a last-ditch effort to survive: the debtors take pains to try and convince some prospective buyer that there is life left in the debtors’ brick-and-mortar business:

The remaining go-forward stores achieved superior sales and customer metrics in the last twelve months compared to the closing stores, including approximately 15% greater sales per square foot on average.

And if that doesn’t do it, there’s the argument that there’s an e-commerce play here. The debtors similarly go to great lengths to state OVER AND OVER AGAIN that e-commerce represents 27% of total sales. They’re practically screaming, “Look at me, look at me! We can be interesting to you [Insert Authentic Brands Group here]!”

Pathlight is sure as hell hoping someone bites.

---

*Kirkland & Ellis…uh…we mean, the “debtors” appear to agree, stating, in reference to private equity, that “[t]oo many pundits have sought to point in too many wrong directions,” citing pieces in RetailDive and The Wall Street Journal. THAT ladies and gentlemen, is client advocacy!

**It’s also fair to say that Professor Goolsbee does his readers a disservice by neglecting the overall picture which, no doubt, also includes over-expansion, too much retail per capita, private equity and over-levered balance sheets. These cowboys are closing 400+ stores for a reason.

Of course, long time PETITION readers know that we’ve been arguing for a LOOOOONG time that the “perfect storm” hitting retail is a confluence of factors that cannot just be lazily summarized as “private equity” or “The Amazon Effect.” It’s good to see that the folks at Kirkland & Ellis agree:

In the face of the longest bull run in U.S. history (close to 3,000 days and counting), a myriad of factors have collectively changed the ways in which consumers and retailers interact—creating for retailers what is tantamount to a perfect storm—and directly contributing to the struggles retailers face in a shifting marketplace.5

Then it’s as if they lifted this footnote straight out of previous PETITION briefings:

***Not to cast aspersions, but the resume of the current PIR CEO is…uh…interesting: prior experience includes FullBeauty Brands, HHGregg, and Marsh Supermarkets. Any of those names sound familiar to bankruptcy professionals?

---

• Jurisdiction: E.D. of Virginia (Judge Huennekens)

• Capital Structure: $140mm RCF + $47.3mm LOC, $189mm Term Loan (Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB), $9.9mm industrial revenue bonds

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Kirkland & Ellis LLP (Joshua Sussberg, Emily Geier, AnnElyse Scarlett Gains, Joshua Altman) & Kutak Rock LLP (Michael Condyles, Peter Barrett, Jeremy Williams, Brian Richardson)

  • Canadian Legal: Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

  • Independent Directors: Steven Panagos & Pamela Corrie

  • Financial Advisor: AlixPartners LLP (Holly Etlin)

  • Investment Banker: Guggenheim Securities LLC (Durc Savini)

  • Real Estate Advisor: A&G Realty Partners LLC

  • Liquidation Consultant: Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC

    • Legal: Riemer & Braunstein LLP (Steven Fox, Anthony Stumbo)

  • Claims Agent: Epiq Corporate Restructuring LLC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • DIP ABL Agent: Bank of America NA

    • Legal: Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, and Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP

  • DIP ABL Term Agent: Pathlight Capital LP

    • Legal: Choate Hall & Stewart LLP (John Ventola, Jonathan Marshall) and Troutman Sanders LLP (Andrew Buxbaum)

  • Ad Hoc Term Lender Group: Eaton Vance Management, Insight North America LLC, Marathon Asset Management LP, MJX Asset Management LLC, Whitebox Advisors LLC, ZAIS Group LLP

    • Legal: Brown Rudnick LLP (Robert Startk, Uchechi Egeonuigwe, Steven Pohl, Sharon Dwoskin) & Whiteford Taylor & Preston LLP (Christopher Jones, Vernon Inge, Corey Booker)

    • Financial Advisor: FTI Consulting Inc.

  • Large Equityholders: Charles Schwab Investment Management, Dimensional Fund Advisors LLP

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors: Bhati & Company, Synergy Home Furnishings LLC, United Parcel Services Inc., Brixmor Operating Partnership LP, Brookfield Property REIT Inc.

    • Legal: Foley & Lardner LLP (Erika Morabito, Brittany Nelson, Timothy Mohan) & Cole Schotz PC (Seth Van Aalten)

    • Financial Advisor: Province Inc. (Paul Huygens, Sanjuro Kietlinski, Walter Bowser, Paul Navid, Shane Payne, Courtney Clement)

🍎New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - Earth Fare Inc.🍎

Earth Fare Inc.

February 4, 2020

North Carolina-based Earth Fare Inc. is the latest grocer to descend into the Delaware bankruptcy courts, closing a horrific stretch for the grocery space in which multiple chains — including Fairway Market and Lucky’s Market — capitulated into chapter 11. Signs were out there. On January 26th, we noted that the chain was quietly closing locations, a clear indication of trouble and precursor to bankruptcy. Subsequently, The Wall Street Journal reported that the grocer had begun closing approximately 50 stores. The thing is: it has about 50 stores (across 10 states) so that effectively signaled that the company was kaput. Twenty minutes later, the company confirmed as much, issuing a press release that it would liquidate inventory at all of its stores and pursue a sale of its assets. 3,270 people appear poised to lose their jobs. It’s brutal out there, folks.* But at least sumo mandarins are back, bringing all new meaning to “get them before they’re gone.”

Earth Fare is owned, as of 2012, by Oak Hill Capital Partners III LP (72.1%) and MCP Heirloom LLC (18.76%), an ironic name given that there isn’t expected to be much left of this sucker going forward. Which means that we all should suspect yet another onslaught of “Private Equity Kills X” pieces in the media. Because, like, those have been all the rage lately. See, e.g., The New York Times and Payless, and Slate and Fairway.

So what’s the story? Well, for starters, you know you’ve got a dumpster fire on your hands when the company’s first day declaration to be entered into evidence in support of the filing is a whopping 18 pages long. Clearly the expectations here aren’t particularly optimistic.

Similar to Lucky’s Market Parent Company LLC, it appears that the company took on too much debt and expanded too much, too soon. Ah, private equity. Consequently, it has approximately $76.8mm of funded debt including a revolving credit facility held by Fifth Third Bank and Wells Fargo Bank NA and a term loan with a mysterious “Prepetition Term Loan Lender” that the company was apparently fearful of identifying by name in its papers. Like, for some reason. Like, as if, uh, we won’t find out who that sucker is who dumped $14.8mm into this horror show a mere 6 months ago. In addition to the funded debt, the company owes $60mm in trade and other unsecured obligations.

The company blames its failure on a now-standard lineup of excuses that include (i) crazy amounts of competition,** (ii) significant capex, and (iii) too much debt.

Riiiiight. Back to that debt. The company has been in a perpetual state of amend-and-extend since 2017 when, in May of that year, it secured an amendment/extension of its revolving loan maturity to April 2019. Those private equity bros who are sure to get bashed put $10mm of equity capital into the company at that point. Then in August 2018, the company entered into another amendment pushing out its maturity. In connection therewith, those private equity bros who are sure to get bashed put another $9mm of equity capital into the company. Another extension followed in April 2019 in which those private equity bros who are sure to get bashed put another $5mm of equity capital into the company. They likely would have had more fun just putting all of that money on "black” at the roulette table.

Meanwhile, the company’s efforts to refinance its debt and/or sell stalled badly. It sold 5 underperforming stores but the rest of the company’s inventory will be the responsibility of Hilco Merchant Resources LLC and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC to sell; the sale of its locations the responsibility of A&G Realty Partners LLC; and the sale of the company’s IP, the responsibility of Hilco Streambank. This mandate is raining liquidators!! Toss in legal, a financial advisor and a strategic communications advisor and the question is: is there anyone left to hire to wind down this company?

*Interestingly, The Charlotte Observer reported that “[t]he number of grocery stores in the [Charlotte] metro area has grown by 38% in five years,” a real head-turner of a stat.

** GroceryDive reported:

“They made some strategic mistakes expanding too far into some non-continuous markets,” Burt Flickinger, managing director of Strategic Resources Group in New York, told Grocery Dive. He said Earth Fare’s key markets “were some of the most over-stored on the Eastern seaboard.”

They also note that the pain is pervasive:

Given their large size and market overlap with Earth Fare and Lucky’s, Sprouts and Whole Foods appear to be the main beneficiaries of this round of specialty store closures, sources said. But these chains certainly don’t have it easy. Whole Foods has not returned to profitable growth under Amazon, according to that company’s quarterly earnings reports, while Sprouts’ stock has dropped with the news from Lucky’s and Earth Fare.

“It’s an unforgiving market out there,” Flickinger said.

Indeed!

• Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware (Judge Owens)

• Capital Structure: $43.33mm RCF (Fifth Third Bank), $21.67mm RCF (Wells Fargo Bank NA), $14.8mm Term Loan

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP (Pauline Morgan, M. Blake Cleary, Sean Greecher, Shane Reil)

  • Financial Advisor/CRO: FTI Consulting Inc. (Charles Goad)

  • Asset Disposition Advisor: Malfitano Advisors LLC

  • Liquidation Consultants: Hilco Merchant Resources LLC and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC

    • Legal: Pepper Hamilton LLP (Douglas Hermann, Marcy McLaughlin Smith)

  • Real Estate Consultant: A&G Realty Partners LLC

  • IP Consultant: Hilco Streambank

  • Strategic Communications Advisor: Paladin Management Group LLC (Jennifer Mercer)

  • Claims Agent: Epiq Bankruptcy Solutions LLC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

New Chapter 11 Filing - GCX Limited

GCX Limited

September 15, 2019

GCX Limited and 15 affiliated debtors filed a prepackaged bankruptcy this week in pursuit of a dual-track restructuring that will, either through a debt-for-equity swap or a sale, extinguish over $150mm of debt. In the swap scenario, the company will hand the keys over to senior secured noteholders; in the sale scenario, the noteholders will gladly take their cash payout and get the f*ck out of dodge. Either way, the company will be under new ownership with a significantly deleveraged capital structure. Certain consenting senior secured noteholders will provide $54.5mm in DIP financing.

The debtors are a global data communications provider; they operate one of the world’s largest fiber networks (PETITION Note: we’re old enough to remember when fiber was the future!). They provide undersea and terrestrial cables and landing stations and provide managed network services all across the globe. In English, this means they help power, among other things, major telecomms companies and streaming media.

Unfortunately, the debtors have declining revenues. Among other reasons for that sad state of affairs, the debtors cite (i) newly developed and planned cable systems along the debtors’ existing and planned network routes, (ii) financial distress at the parent level, (iii) ongoing disputes with banks that have applied setoff rights against the debtors’ cash, and (iv) high fixed costs and less certain recurring revenue due to clients newfound refusal to enter into long-term arrangements. For all of these reasons, the debtors have been unable to refinance their senior secured notes and the notes matured on July 31. Obviously — considering this thing is now in bankruptcy court — the debtors’ issues prevented them from paying off the debt as it became due. Instead, the debtors have operated under a forbearance agreement since July, during which time it formulated its go-forward plan and solicited the support, via a restructuring support agreement, of a meaningful amount of senior unsecured noteholders. The forbearance expired on the filing date.

Now the bankers, Lazard & Co., will have their work cut out for them. The debtors hope to run an expedited sales process (though, in the bankers’ favor is the fact that the pool of interested parties for assets like these is likely limited) and conduct an auction within 42 days of the filing. Absent that, the debtors will proceed with the debt-for-equity swap with an eye towards confirmation within 75 days and going effective before the end of the year (subject to requisite regulatory approvals, i.e., FCC and CFIUS).

• Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware (Judge Sontchi)

• Capital Structure: $365.8mm 7% ‘19 senior secured notes (The Bank of New York Mellon)

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Paul Hastings LLP (Chris Dickerson, Brendan Gage, Robert Dixon Jr., Todd Schwartz) & Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP (M. Blake Cleary, Jaime Luton Chapman)

  • Board of Directors: Rodney Riley, Donald Mallon, Alan Carr

  • Financial Advisor/CRO: FTI Consulting Inc. (Michael Katzenstein, Don Harer)

  • Investment Banker: Lazard & Co. (Ken Ziman)

  • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • Wilmington Trust NA

    • Legal: Duane Morris LLP (Christopher Winter, Jarret Hitchings)

  • Ad Hoc Group of Senior Secured Noteholders

    • Legal: White & Case LLP (Brian Pfeiffer, William Guerrieri, Varoon Sachdev) & Farnan LLP (Brian Farnan, Michael Farnan)

🙈New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - Avenue Stores LLC🙈

Avenue Stores LLC

August 16, 2019

Retail, retail, retail.

Brutal. Absolutely B.R.U.T.A.L.

Avenue Stores LLC, a speciality women’s plus-size retailer with approximately 2,000 employees across its NJ-based HQ* and 255 leased stores,** is the latest retailer to find its way into bankruptcy court. On Friday, August 16, Avenue Stores LLC filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the District of Delaware. Like Dressbarn, another plus-size apparel retailer that’s in the midst of going the way of the dodo, any future iteration of the Avenue “brand” will likely exist only on the interwebs: the company intends to shutter its brick-and-mortar footprint.

What is Avenue? In addition to a select assortment of national brands, Avenue is a seller of (i) mostly “Avenue” private label apparel, (ii) intimates/swimwear and other wares under the “Loralette” brand and (iii) wide-width shoes under the “Cloudwalkers” brand. The company conducts e-commerce via “Avenue.com” and “Loralette.com.” All of this “IP” is the crux of the bankruptcy. More on this below. 

But, first, a digression: when we featured Versa Capital Management LP’s Gregory Segall in a Notice of Appearance segment back in April, we paid short shrift to the challenges of retail. We hadn’t had an investor make an NOA before and so we focused more broadly on the middle market and investing rather than Versa’s foray into retail and its ownership of Avenue Stores LLC. Nevertheless, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, we can now see some foreshadowing baked into Mr. Siegel’s answers — in particular, his focus on Avenue’s e-commerce business and the strategic downsizing of the brick-and-mortar footprint. Like many failed retail enterprises before it, the future — both near and long-term — of Avenue Stores is marked by these categorical distinctions. Store sales are approximately 64% of sales with e-commerce at approximately 36% (notably, he cited 33% at the time of the NOA). 

A brand founded in 1987, Avenue has had an up-and-down history. It was spun off out of Limited Brands Inc. and renamed in 1989; it IPO’d in 1992; it was then taken private in 2007. Shortly thereafter, it struggled and filed for bankruptcy in early 2012 and sold as a going-concern to an acquisition entity, Avenue Stores LLC (under a prior name), for “about $32 million.” The sale closed after all of two months in bankruptcy. The holding company that owns 100% of the membership interests in Avenue Stores LLC, the operating company, is 99%-owned by Versa Capital Management. 

Performance for the business has been bad, though the net loss isn’t off the charts like we’ve seen with other recent debtors in chapter 11 cases (or IPO candidates filing S-1s, for that matter). Indeed, the company had negative EBITDA of $886k for the first five months of 2019 on $75.3mm in sales. Nevertheless, the loss was enough for purposes of the debtors’ capital structure. The debtors are party to an asset-backed loan (“ABL”) memorialized by a credit agreement with PNC Bank NA, a lender that, lately, hasn’t been known for suffering fools. The loan is for $45mm with a $6mm first-in-last-out tranche and has a first lien on most of the debtors’ collateral. 

The thing about ABLs is that availability thereunder is subject to what’s called a “borrowing base.” A borrowing base determines how much availability there is out of the overall credit facility. Said another way, the debtors may not always have access to the full facility and therefore can’t just borrow $45mm willy-nilly; they have to comply with certain periodic tests. For instance, the value of the debtors’ inventory and receivables, among other things, must be at a certain level for availability to remain. If the value doesn’t hold up, the banks can close the spigot. If you’re a business with poor sales, slim margins, diminishing asset quality (i.e., apparel inventory), and high cash burn, you’re generally not in very good shape when it comes to these tests. With specs like those, your liquidity is probably already tight. A tightened borrowing base will merely exacerbate the problem.

Lo and behold, PNC declared the debtors in default on July 22; in turn, they imposed default interest on the debtors and initiated daily cash sweeps of the debtors’ bank accounts. Like we said. Suffer. No. Fools.*** The debtors owe $15.2mm on the facility. 

The debtors also have outstanding a subordinated secured note to the tune of $37.8mm. The note pays interest at 15% but is paid in kind.**** The lender on the note is an affiliate of Versa, and per the terms of the note, Versa had continued, at least through April 2019, to fund the business (and letters of credit for the debtors’ benefit) with millions of dollars of capital. 

If this sounds like a hot mess, well, yeah, sure, kudos. You’re clearly paying attention. It’s a dog eat dog world out there. Per the company:

The Debtors operate in an extremely competitive retail environment, facing competition from other specialty-retail stores, including Lane Bryant, Ashley Stewart, and Torrid, and mass-market retailers such as Walmart and Target, many of which are located in close proximity to Avenue stores. In addition to long-standing, traditional competitors within the plussize segment, there has been a recent influx of many other iconic fashion retail brands expanding their range of size offerings into the plus-size range, as well as a proliferation of new entrants targeting this same plus-size fashion market. Due to increased competition, the Debtors have faced significant pressure to maintain market share, which has directly and negatively affected their profitability.

Not that this is anything new. We all know this by now: competition is fierce (Stitch Fix Inc. ($SFIX), Neiman Marcus, Kohl’s Corporation ($KSS), Macy’s Inc. ($M) and others are now going after it hard), B&M sucks because leases carry higher expenses, store traffic is down, blah blah f*cking blah. The company continues:

…changes in consumer spending habits have necessitated many retailers to increase promotional activities and discounting, leading to thinner profit margins. Onerous brick-and-mortar lease terms and increased operating costs, during a period of downturn in the retail sector and deep discounting, have intensified retail losses.

Interestingly, in the face of surging U.S. retail sales in July,***** the company also notes that “a review of historic customer data indicates that Avenue customers are shopping less frequently than they once were….” They blame this on a “[s]hifts in consumer preferences” and the debtors’ emphasis on “fashion basics.” DING DING DING. No wonder customers are shopping there less frequently. “Basic” is the antithesis of Instagram-based retail these days. Basics can be purchased at any big box retailer; basics are now available via Amazon’s private label. Basics don’t create an influencer and, on the flip side, no influencer will market “basic.” Maybe Avenue could get away with “fashion basics” if it had brand-equity like SUPREME and was perceived as a luxury brand. But far from it. 

Speaking of basic, that pretty much describes the go-forward game plan. We’ll lay it out for you:

• Engage an independent director to explore strategic alternatives;

• Engage professionals (Young Conaway is legal and Berkeley Research Group as restructuring advisor and CRO)******;

• Consider whether there’s going concern value, conclude, like, basically, “nope,” and then hire a consultant******* to solicit bids from liquidators for the B&M piece and an investment banker (Configure Partners) for the IP and e-commerce business; 

• Issue WARN notices, RIF employees, and start shuttering stores (with intent to file a rejection motion on day 1 of the bankruptcy); 

• Select a stalking horse bidder for the B&M assets from the pool of interested liquidators (in this case, Gordon Brothers and Hilco Merchant Resources LLC); 

• Continue to search for a stalking horse bidder for the IP and e-commerce (at filing, there wasn’t one yet); and

• Secure DIP financing (here, $12mm from PNC) to fund the cases while the B&M liquidation transpires and the banker searches under every rock under an extremely compressed timeframe (by 9/24/19) for that e-commerce/IP buyer.******** 

So we’ll know in the next 60 days what the future is for Avenue.

If there is one.

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*Let’s pour one out for NJ. The state’s larger retailers are having a rough go of things lately, see, e.g., Toys R Us. The 2,000 figure is updated to reflect a recent round of layoffs. 

**The debtors are located primarily in shopping malls and shopping centers, doing business in 35 states. They have a distribution center for brick-and-mortar merchandise in Troy, Ohio, and a third-party warehousing facility located in Dallas, Texas, which handles logistics for e-commerce. The Troy center is the subject of a wholly unoriginal PE-backed sale/leaseback transaction. The debtors sold the center for $11.3mm and subsequently entered into a 15-year lease with the buyer, RD Dayton LLC. We mention this because sale/leaseback transactions have been getting hyper-focus these days as a tactic-of-choice by private equity overlords to extract returns out of portfolio companies’ assets with any actual value: real property. If you’re wondering why there is very little asset value left for unsecured creditors in retail cases, sale/leaseback transactions are often a culprit. Here, it’s especially egregious because Avenue doesn’t own ANY of its stores: the entire footprint is leased.

The debtors recently closed the Ohio center and transitioned its inventory to Texas and the company already filed a motion seeking to reject this lease (Docket 15).

***This is not extraordinary. Banks do this all of the time when debtors default. A liquidity starved company is almost always toast (read: bankrupt) once this happens. 

****PIK interest means that the interest accrues in the form of additional notes and is not subject to scheduled cash payments. 

*****Per Reuters:

Retail sales increased 0.7% last month after gaining 0.3% in June, the government said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales would rise 0.3% in July. Compared to July last year, retail sales increased 3.4%.

******Something tells us that the likes of FTI, A&M and AlixPartners are happy to cede the liquidating retailer market to Berkeley Research Group. 

*******This is one of the more ingenious things to come out of the restructuring market in recent years. These liquidator agreements are so unintelligible that they might as well be written in Dothraki. Hence the need for an intermediary to break out the secret decoder ring and figure out what is actually being contracted for. We don’t know: if something is so woefully incoherent that it requires a separate consultant just to interpret it, something tells us that obfuscation is a feature not a bug.

********If none is found, the liquidator will also get these assets as part of the agency agreement. 

• Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware (Judge Silverstein)

• Capital Structure:

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP (Robert Brady, Andrew Magaziner, Ashley Jacobs, Allison Mielke, Betsy Feldman)

  • Financial Advisor/CRO: Berkeley Research Group (Robert Duffy)

  • Investment Banker: Configure Partners

  • Liquidators: Gordon Brothers and Hilco Merchant Resources LLC

  • Liquidation Consultant: Malfitano Advisors LLC

  • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • Pre-petition & DIP Agent: PNC Bank NA

    • Legal: Blank Rome LLP (Regina Stango Kelbon)

  • Subordinated Lender: Versa Capital Management LP

    • Legal: Landis Rath & Cobb LLP (Adam Landis, Matthew McGuire)

🌑New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - Blackjewel LLC🌑

Blackjewel LLC

July 1, 2019

The macro environment has been largely unforgiving to coal country.

Blackjewel LLC and three affiliates are the latest in a long string of coal companies to file for bankruptcy. The debtors mine and process metallurgical, thermal and other specialty and industrial coals; they operate 32 properties and hold over 500 mining permits — “more than any other enterprise in the country.” Their operations are in the Central Appalachian Basin in Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming; they employee 1,700 people (1,100 in the east and 600 in the west).

The debtors blame the usual macro factors for their descent into bankruptcy court: (i) declining commodity prices, (ii) reduced domestic demand for met and thermal coal, (iii) compliance costs, (iv) the rise of natural gas, (v) the increased adoption of renewables, and (vi) decreased coal-fired power generation. This is a telling stat, per the debtors:

Thermal coal demand in the domestic electric power sector has declined from 935 million tons in 2011 to 636 million tons in 2018 and coal has seen its share of the domestic electricity generation market reduce from 43% in 2011 to 31% in 2017.

On a micro level, the debtors suffered from company-specific issues including (a) the termination of a major contract with Nobel Group, (b) a major roof collapse at a particular mine that shut down production, (c) changes to Kentucky’s workers’ compensation laws that increased insurance rates, (d) poorly timed hedging agreements, and (e) interestingly, bad weather. Yes, that’s right: it isn’t just retailers who blame weather for poor performance. Per the debtors:

Various flooding events across the midwest in 2019 have severely impacted rail shipments from the Debtors’ Western Division mining operations. Starting in March 2019, the Debtor started to experience a material reduction in shipments by rail due to severe damage to the rail lines used to move the Debtors’ coal. The impact from the flooding is ongoing, with an estimated $30 million in lost sales directly attributable to it.

PETITION Note: There’s no way to know whether these “flooding events” are the result of man-made global warming but, if so…well, you know where we’re going with this. Irony to the utmost!

All of these factors — and some recent mine acquisitions from previously bankrupted coal companies — combined to seriously constrain liquidity and, after a little refinancing foreplay, term lender Riverstone Credit Partners decided it wanted out and pulled the plug from discussions. The debtors had no choice but to file for bankruptcy.

We were on a brief July 4-related break at the time of the debtors’ filing but suffice it to say that the filing was a sh*tshow. The company filed with a $20mm DIP commitment from company CEO Jeff A. Hoops Sr. and Clearwater Investment Holdings LLC, at an interest rate of LIBOR + 6% per annum, but that DIP fell apart prior to the debtors’ first day hearing putting the company on the brink of liquidation. Per The Wall Street Journal:

But the company learned before its debut appearance in West Virginia bankruptcy court that his bank froze funds Mr. Hoops believed would provide the necessary credit for the proposed financing, according to Blackjewel lawyer Stephen Lerner.

“It’s frankly a disaster,” Mr. Lerner said during the hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Charleston, W.Va.

While this surely sucked for the professionals involved, we especially feel for the 1,700 employees whose lives were altered over night — right on the eve of July 4th. Compounding matters is the fact that, apparently, the debtors cut checks to their employees prior to the filing that are not being accepted or are being dishonored by Commonwealth banks. WHAT. A. SH*TSHOW. 🙈The court held a separate hearing on this subject on Saturday, July 6.

Ultimately, Riverstone jumped in and — oddly enough considering its role in precipitating this whole bankruptcy dance to begin with — offered a lifeline. In what may be the shortest interim DIP financing order we’ve seen ever (3 pages), the bankruptcy court approved a $5mm super-priority senior secured DIP facility ($4.25mm from Riverstone, $750k from United Bank) at LIBOR + 8.5%. The use of proceeds? To ensure security measures are in place at the mines to preserve and protect property and equipment; to pay firefighting personnel needed to extinguish active fires at the mines; to fund a $500k professional fee escrow; and to pay for other essential emergency expenses. We presume the latter would include making sure employees — who, to be clear, were abruptly sent home — get paid. Other conditions of the DIP facility? Mr. Hoops got the heave-ho and FTI’s David Beckman was appointed Chief Restructuring Officer with CEO-esque authority. Savage move by Riverstone but we all know that old adage about money talking.

But why though?

Among other things coming to light, the Hoops-controlled debtors apparently floated cashier’s checks to their 600 Wyoming employees rather than follow typical direct deposit practices. Per the Gillette News Record, the bankruptcy court judge was pissed:

“I know this may be interfering with the holiday plans for some of you, but I’m sure you’d agree it’s minimal (compared) to what these employees are dealing with,” Volk scolded during an emergency hearing he called on the Fourth of July after he began hearing reports of people not being paid.

To make matters worse, in a liquidity exercise to the extreme, the debtors apparently also deducted $1.2mm of employee money from paychecks for 401(k) contributions but those amounts were never deposited into the appropriate accounts. SHEESH.

The human element of this cannot be overstated. More from the Gillette News Record (which you ought to read — it really puts this bankruptcy filing in perspective):

“I just hope these people can find jobs here and don’t have to leave,” said [Mayor Louise Carter-King], referring to the 2016 bust that saw the city’s population dip by about 2,000 as people left for work elsewhere. “That’s a big concern, but I also realize they’ve got to go where they can get jobs.”

She’s also worried for the small, local businesses and contractors that rely on performing work at the mines, especially those that might have to cut staff or shut their doors because they haven’t been paid by Blackjewel.

“Losing 600, 700 jobs has quite a trickle-down effect,” she said.

Shockingly, Fortune notes that coal mining jobs have actually “held steady under Trump”:

…per the Bureau of Labor Statistics: the number of coal workers rose from 50,500 in Nov. 2016 to 52,900 (preliminary) in May 2019. The rise has largely been attributed to demand from Europe and Asia—though overall demand has been steadily falling with exports down 7.4% in first quarter of 2019 year-over-year.

But in the long term, the trend of falling coal jobs expected to continue as the commodity comes under pressure against cheaper options such as natural gas.

“I can’t overstate the extreme competition between coal and natural gas,”  Hans Daniels, CEO of Doyle Trading Consultants said last year.

Indeed, take a look at the BLS numbers:

This is, despite the fact that, per the Wall Street Journal:

Blackjewel is at least the fifth coal company to file for bankruptcy within the past 12 months and third to file chapter 11 since May. Cloud Peak Energy Inc. and Cambrian Holding Co. filed for chapter 11 protection in the previous two months. Westmoreland Coal Co. and Mission Coal Co. filed for bankruptcy last fall.

This is, despite the fact that, per the Wall Street Journal:

Blackjewel is at least the fifth coal company to file for bankruptcy within the past 12 months and third to file chapter 11 since May. Cloud Peak Energy Inc. and Cambrian Holding Co. filed for chapter 11 protection in the previous two months. Westmoreland Coal Co. and Mission Coal Co. filed for bankruptcy last fall.

Curious.

As for the Powder River Basin, generally? Things aren’t so peachy. Per E&E News, the Blackjewel bankruptcy portends more pain to come:

"To me, it's a real sign there is something fundamentally wrong with the economics of PRB coal," said Clark Williams-Derry, an analyst who tracks the coal industry at the Sightline Institute, which advocates for a transition to clean energy. "The new normal is not stasis. It is contraction and disappointment."

It wasn't always that way. In the 1970s, a newly strengthened Clean Air Act prompted a westward expansion of the U.S. coal industry. The coal found in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming does not pack as much energy as the varieties buried in Appalachia. But its low sulphur content made it popular with power companies searching for ways to comply with America's new air quality laws.

Today, the Powder River Basin accounts for roughly 40% of U.S. coal output, by far the most of any basin. Yet production there has plunged, falling from 462 million tons in 2011 to 324 million tons last year, according to federal figures.

What is the cause of this decline?

The decline has been driven by stiff competition from natural gas and renewable energy. Wind, in particular, has eroded the Powder River Basin's market in the Great Plains, a major outlet for the basin's coal.

"Wind power has caused a lot of these coal plants to be uneconomical and be shut down," said John Hanou, a coal consultant who produces an annual study on the Powder River Basin. "Then on top of that you have the cheap natural gas from fracking."

The fact that PRB coal’s primary use is electricity had largely insulated it from the coal downturn of a few years ago. The bankruptcies of Arch Coal Inc. ($ARCH), Peabody Energy ($BTU) and Alpha Natural Resources largely revolved around over-expansion and too much debt as these companies dove into met coal for purposes of steal production. Electricity-producing coal of the sort produced in the PRB wasn’t as affected. Until now.

The problem: U.S. power companies consumed 687 million tons of coal in 2018, the lowest amount since 1978.

The decline has prompted upheaval in a region that long prided itself on stability. Cloud Peak Energy Inc., which operates three mines in the region, declared bankruptcy in May….

Last month, Arch and Peabody announced plans to form a joint venture, effectively combining their mining operations in the Powder River Basin in an attempt to cut costs. 

President Trump promised to save coal.

In reality, the cancer has spread farther than it had ever before.

Pour one out for the PRB.

---

• Jurisdiction: S.D. of West Virginia (Judge Folk)

• Capital Structure: $28mm term loan (15% interest)(Riverstone Credit Partners) + $6mm from Jeff A. Hoops Sr. and Lime Rock Partners, ~$6mm RCF and TL (United Bank Inc.), $23.8mm (Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation), $25.5mm Fifth Third Bank Loan, $1.7mm Javelin Commodities Security Agreement, $4.9mm Uniper Security Agreement, $11mm Hoops’ Prepetition unsecured loans

• Professionals:

  • Legal: Squire Patton Boggs (Stephen Lerner, Nava Hazan, Maura McIntyre, Travis McRoberts, Kyle Arendsen) & (local) Supple Law Office PLLC (Joe Supple)

  • Financial Advisor: FTI Consulting Inc. (David Beckman)

  • Investment Banker: Jefferies LLC (Robert White)

  • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on the link above for free docket access)

• Other Parties in Interest:

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (Walker Machinery Company, Jennmar Corporation of Virginia, CAM Mining LLC, United Central Industrial Supply Company LLC, Kentucky River Properties LLC)

    • Legal: Whiteford Taylor & Preston LLP (Michael Roeschenthaler, Brandy Rapp, Daniel Schimizzi)

Updated 7/7/19 #88