😷New Chapter 11 & CCAA Bankruptcy Filing - Aralez Pharmaceuticals US Inc.😷

8/10/18

Publicly-traded Ontario-based Aralez Pharmaceuticals US Inc. ($ARLZ), a specialty pharma company focused on the development and commercialization of cardiovascular products, filed for bankruptcy to pursue sales of its main operating businesses in the US and Canada. The company will use the bankruptcy process to sell its TOPROL-XL franchise, a beta-blocker used to treat high blood pressure, chest pain and heart failure, to its secured lender, Deerfield Management Company LP, for approximately $140mm; it will also sell its VIMOVO royalties and Canadian operations to Nuvo Pharmaceuticals Inc. ($NRI) in a transaction valued at $110mm. The company purchased the former franchise in late 2016 for $175mm so a sale for $140mm is a bit of a slap in the face.

The company blames its chapter 11 filing on Amazon. Just kidding. These pharma deals are so technical and boring that we had to write that just to see if you were still paying attention.

The company REALLY blames its chapter 11 filing on a “highly competitive”pharmaceuticals market “characterized by rapidly changing markets and technology, emerging industry standards and frequent introduction of new products.” It notes:

The market is dominated by a small number of highly-concentrated global competitors, many of which boast substantially greater resources than the Company, and competition is based on, among other things, product safety, reliability, availability, and price.

The company seeks approval of a $15mm DIP credit facility provided by Deerfield.

  • Jurisdiction: Southern District of New York (Judge Glenn)

  • Capital Structure: $203.1mm 12.5% term loan (plus $2.7mm in PIK interest); $75.5mm 2.5% ‘22 senior convertible secured notes (plus $200k in PIK interest).

  • Company Professionals:

    • Legal: Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (Paul V. Shalhoub, Robin Spigel, Debra C. McElligott)

    • Financial Advisor: Alvarez & Marsal Healthcare Industry Group LLC

    • Investment Banker: Moelis & Company (Barak Klein)

    • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC

  • Other Parties in Interest:

    • DIP Agent: Deerfield Management Company LP (Legal: Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Steven Reisman, Shaya Rochester, Peter Siddiqui, Paul Musser)

New Chapter 11 Filing - CGG Holding (US) Inc.

CGG Holding (US) Inc.

  • 6/14/17 Recap: Global geophysical and geoscience company servicing customers primarily in oil and gas E&P is the latest victim of the oil and gas downturn of the past two-or-so years. The company's success is tied heavily to the E&P space and those clients were reluctant to invest in data acquisition projects to identify areas for future production or increased current production; therefore, you can imagine what happened to revenues and what that means when you're looking at a debt-stack as aggressive as this one. Indeed revenues and earnings were cut by 67% from 2012 to 2016. Ad hoc groups of secured lenders and high yield bondholders as well as as certain holders of the converts and certain shareholders of CGG SA, the foreign entity that filed in France and for Chapter 15, have entered into a Lock-up agreement delineating a balance sheet restructuring. The upshot is that the high yield bondholders and converts will own the majority of the equity in the reorganized company. 
  • Jurisdiction: S.D. of New York (Judge Glenn)
  • Capital Structure: $810mm secured debt ($300mm French Revolver of CGG SA - Wilmington Trust (London), $165mm US Revolver - Credit Suisse AG, $342mm US TL - Wilmington Trust NA), $1.6b senior unsecured high yield bonds (The Bank of New York Mellon) and $402.7mm convertible notes (issued by CGG SA).     
  • Company Professionals:
    • Legal: Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP (Alan Kornberg, Brian Hermann, Lauren Shumejda, Christopher Hopkins) & (Chapter 15 for CGG SA) Linklaters LLP (Margot Schonholz, Robert Trust, Christopher Hunker)
    • Financial Advisor: AlixPartners LLP (Becky Roof, Susan Brown, Brad Hunter, John Creighton, Francisco Echevarria,John Somerville, David Shim)
    • Investment Banker: Morgan Stanley & Lazard (Kenneth Ziman)
      • Legal (Lazard): Sidley Austin LLP (Thomas Labuda Jr., Andrew Propps)
    • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on company name above for free docket access)
  • Other Parties in Interest:
    • Ad Hoc Secured Lender Committee (Och Ziff, Goldman Sachs International, Makuria Investment Management (UK) LLP, T. Rowe Price)
      • Legal: Kirkland & Ellis LLP (Kon Asimacopolous, Stephen Hessler, Anthony Grossi, Hannah Crawford)
    • Ad Hoc Committee of Holders of High Yield Bonds (Alden Global Capital, Attestor Capital LLP, Boussard & Gavaudan Asset Management LP, Contrarian Capital Management LLC, Aurelius Capital Management LP, Third Point LLC)
      • Legal: Wilkie Farr & Gallager LLP (John Longmire, Weston Eguchi)
    • Indenture Trustee for Senior Noteholders: Bank of New York Mellon
      • Legal: Hogan Lovells US LLP (Christopher Donoho, John Beck)

Updated 7/11/17 6:41 CT