🌑New Chapter 11 Filing - Cloud Peak Energy Inc.🌑

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In what ought to come as a surprise to absolutely no one, Cloud Peak Energy Inc. ($CLD) and a slate of affiliates FINALLY filed for bankruptcy.

Let’s take a moment of silence for coal country, shall we? If this is what MAGA looks like, we’d hate to see what happens when a global downturn eventually hits. There’s gonna be blood in the water.

Sounds like hyperbole? Note that since 2016, there have been a slate of coal-related bankruptcies, i.e., Westmoreland Coal Company, Mission Coal Company LLC, and now Cloud Peak Energy Inc. Blackhawk Mining LLC appears to be waiting in the wings. We suppose it could be worse: we could be talking about oil and gas country (and we will be, we certainly will be…and SOON.).

Cloud Peak is an impressive company. Since its formation in 2008, it has become one of the largest (subbituminous thermal coal) coal producers in the US — supplying enough coal to satisfy approximately 2% of the US’ electricity demand. Its three surface mines are located in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana; it sold approximately 50mm tons of coal in 2018 to 46 domestic and foreign end users.*

In the scheme of things, Cloud Peak’s balance sheet isn’t overly complicated. We’re not talking about billions of dollars of debt here like we saw with Walter Energy, Peabody Energy, Arch Coal, Patriot Coal or Alpha Natural Resources. So, not all coal companies and coal company bankruptcies are created equal. Nevertheless, the company does have $290.4mm of ‘21 12% secured notes (Wilmington Trust NA) and $56.4mm of ‘24 6.375% unsecured notes (Wilmington Trust NA as successor trustee to Wells Fargo Bank NA) to contend with for a total of $346.8mm in funded debt liability. The company is also party to a securitization facility. And, finally, the company also has reclamation obligations related to their mines and therefore has $395mm in third-party surety bonds outstanding with various insurance companies, backed by $25.7mm in letters of credit. Coal mining is a messy business, homies.

So why bankruptcy? Why now? Per the company:

The Company’s chapter 11 filing, however, was precipitated by (i) general distress affecting the domestic U.S. thermal coal industry that produced a sustained low price environment that could not support profit margins to allow the Company to satisfy its funded debt obligations; (ii) export market price volatility that caused decreased demand from the Company’s customers in Asia; (iii) particularly challenging weather conditions in the second quarter of 2018 that caused spoil failure and significant delays in coal production through the remainder of 2018 and into 2019, which reduced cash inflows from coal sales and limited credit availability; and (iv) recent flooding in the Midwestern United States that has significantly disrupted rail service, further reducing coal sales.

To summarize, price compression caused by natural gas. Too much regulation (which, in turn, favors natural gas over coal). Too much debt. And, dare we say, global warming?!? Challenging weather and flooding must be really perplexing in coal country where global warming isn’t exactly embraced with open arms.

Now, we may be hopping to conclusions here but, these bits are telling — and are we say, mildly ironic in a tragic sort of way:

In addition to headwinds facing thermal coal producers and export market volatility, the Company’s mines suffered from unusually heavy rains affecting Wyoming and Montana in the second quarter of 2018. For perspective, the 10-year average combined rainfall for May, June, and July at the Company’s Antelope Mine is 6.79 inches. In 2018, it rained 10.2 inches during that period. While certain operational procedures put in place following heavy flooding in 2014 functioned effectively to mitigate equipment damage, the 2018 rains interrupted the Company’s mining operations considerably.

It gets worse.

The problem with rain is that the moisture therefrom causes “spoil.” Per the company:

Spoil is the term used for overburden and other waste rock removed during coal mining. The instability in the dragline pits caused wet spoil to slide into the pits that had to be removed by dragline and/or truck-shovel methods before the coal could be mined. This caused significant delays and diverted truck-shovel capacity from preliminary stripping work, which caused additional production delays at the Antelope Mine. The delays resulting from the spoil failure at the Antelope Mine caused the Company to have reduced shipments, increased costs, and delayed truck-shovel stripping in 2018. Consequently, the reduced cash inflows from coal sales limited the Company’s credit availability under the financial covenants in the Amended Credit Agreement prior to its termination, and limited access to any new forms of capital.

But, wait. There’s more:

Additionally, the severe weather affecting the Midwest region of the United States in mid-March 2019 caused, among other things, extensive flooding that damaged rail lines. One of Cloud Peak’s primary suppliers of rail transportation services – BNSF – was negatively impacted by the flooding and has been unable to provide sufficient rail transportation services to satisfy the Company’s targeted coal shipments. As of the Petition Date, BNSF’s trains have resumed operations, but are operating on a less frequent schedule because of repairs being made to rail lines damaged by the extensive flooding. As a result, the Company’s coal shipments have been materially impacted, with cash flows significantly reduced through mid-June 2019.

Riiiiiiiight. But:

More about Moore here: the tweet, as you might expect, doesn’t tell the full story.

Anywho.

The company has been burning a bit over $7mm of liquidity a month since September 2018. Accordingly, it sought strategic alternatives but was unable to find anything viable that would clear its cap stack. We gather there isn’t a whole lot of bullishness around coal mines these days.

To buy itself some time, therefore, the company engaged in a series of exchange transactions dating back to 2016. This enabled it to extinguish certain debt maturing in 2019. And thank G-d for the public markets: were it not for a February 2017 equity offering where some idiot public investors hopped in to effectively transfer their money straight into noteholder pockets, this thing probably would have filed for bankruptcy sooner. That equity offering — coupled with a preceding exchange offer — bought the company some runway to continue to explore strategic alternatives. The company engaged J.P. Morgan Securities LLC to find a partner but nothing was actionable. Ah….coal.

Thereafter, the company hired a slate of restructuring professionals to help prepare it for the inevitable. Centerview Partners took over for J.P. Morgan Securities LLC but, to date, has had no additional luck. The company filed for bankruptcy without any prospective buyers lined up.

Alas, the company filed for bankruptcy with a “sale and plan support agreement” or “SAPSA.” While this may sound like a venereal disease, what it really means is that the company has an agreement with a significant percentage of both its secured and unsecured noteholders to dual track a sale and plan process. If they can sell the debtors’ assets via a string of 363 sales, great. If they have to do a more fulsome transaction by way of a plan, sure, that also works. These consenting noteholders also settled some other disputes and support the proposed $35mm DIP financing

*Foreign customers purchased approximately 9% of ‘18 coal production.

  • Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware (Judge Gross)

  • Capital Structure: $290mm 12% ‘21 secured debt (Wilmington Trust NA), $56.4mm unsecured debt (BOKF NA)

  • Professionals:

    • Legal: Vinson & Elkins LLP (Paul Heath, David Meyer, Jessica Peet, Lauren Kanzer, Matthew Moran, Steven Zundell, Andrew Geppert, Matthew Pyeatt, Matthew Struble, Jeremy Reichman) & (local) Richards Layton & Finger PA (Daniel DeFranceschi, John Knight)

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

    • Investment Banker: Centerview Partners (Marc Puntus, Ryan Kielty, Johannes Preis)

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

  • Other Parties in Interest:

    • Major shareholders: Renaissance Technologies LLC, The Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Dimensional Fund Advisors LP, Kopernik Global Advisors, Blackrock Inc.

    • DIP Agent: Ankura Trust Company LLC

      • Legal: Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (Damian Schaible, Aryeh Ethan Falk, Christopher Robertson) & (local) Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell LLP (Robert Dehney, Curtis Miller, Paige Topper)

      • Financial Advisor: Houlihan Lokey

    • Prepetition Secured Noteholder Group (Allianz Global Investors US LLC, Arena Capital Advisors LLC, Grace Brothers LP, Nomura Corporate Research and Asset Management Inc. Nuveen Alternatives Advisors LLC, Wexford Capital LP, Wolverine Asset Management LLC)

      • Legal: Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (Damian Schaible, Aryeh Ethan Falk, Christopher Robertson) & (local) Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell LLP (Robert Dehney, Curtis Miller, Paige Topper)

    • Indenture Trustee: BOKF NA

      • Legal: Arent Fox LLP (Andrew Silfen, Jordana Renert) & (local) Womble Bond Dickinson US LLP (Matthew Ward)

    • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (BOKF NA, Nelson Brothers Mining Services LLC, Wyoming Machinery Company, Cummins Inc., ESCO Group LLC, Tractor & Equipment Co., Kennebec Global)

      • Legal: Morrison & Foerster LLP (Lorenzo Marinuzzi, Jennifer Marines, Todd Goren, Daniel Harris, Mark Lightner) & Morris James LLP (Carl Kunz III, Brya Keilson, Eric Monzo)

      • Investment Banker: Jefferies LLC (Leon Szlezinger)

Update: 7/7/19 #379

⛽️New Chapter 11 Filing - Southcross Energy Partners LP⛽️

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Southcross Energy Partners LP

April 1, 2019

We’ve been noting — in “⛽️Is Oil & Gas Distress Back?⛽️“ (March 6) and “Oil and Gas Continues to Crack (Long Houston-Based Hotels)“ (March 24) that oil and gas was about to rear its ugly head right back into bankruptcy court. Almost on cue, Vanguard Natural Resources Inc. filed for bankruptcy in Texas on the last day of Q1 and, here, Southcross Energy Partners LP kicked off Q2.

Dallas-based Southcross Energy Partners LP is a publicly-traded company ($SXEE) that provides midstream services to nat gas producers/customers, including nat gas gathering, processing, treatment and compression and access to natural gas liquid (“NGL”) fractionation and transportation services; it also purchases and sells nat gas and NGL; its primary assets and operations are located in the Eagle Ford shale region of South Texas, though it also operates in Mississippi (sourcing power plants via its pipelines) and Alabama. It and its debtor affiliates generated $154.8mm in revenues in the three months ended 09/30/18, an 11% YOY decrease.

Why are the debtors in bankruptcy? Because natural gas prices collapsed in 2015 and have yet to really meaningfully recover — though they are up from the $1.49 low of March 4, 2016. As we write this, nat gas prices at $2.70. These prices, combined with too much leverage (particularly in comparison to competitors that flushed their debt through bankruptcy) and facility shutdowns, created strong headwinds the company simply couldn’t surmount. It now seeks to use the bankruptcy process to gain access to much needed capital and sell to a buyer to maximize value. The company does not appear to have a stalking horse bidder lined up.

The debtors have a commitment for $137.5mm of new-money post-petition financing to fund its cases. Use of proceeds? With the agreement of its secured parties, the debtors seek to pay all trade creditors in the ordinary course of business. If approved by the court, this would mean that the debtors will likely avoid having to contend with an official committee of unsecured creditors and that only the secured creditors and holders of unsecured sponsor notes would have lingering pre-petition claims — a strong power move by the debtors.

  • Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware (Judge Walrath)

  • Capital Structure: $81.1mm funded ‘19 RCF (Wells Fargo Bank NA), $430.875mm ‘21 TL (Wilmington Trust NA), $17.4mm unsecured sponsor notes (Wells Fargo NA)

  • Professionals:

    • Legal: Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (Marshall Heubner, Darren Klein, Steven Szanzer, Benjamin Schak) & (local) Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell LLP (Robert Dehney, Andrew Remming, Joseph Barsalona II, Eric Moats)

    • Financial Advisor: Alvarez & Marsal LLC

    • Investment Banker: Evercore Group LLC

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

  • Other Parties in Interest:

    • Prepetition RCF & Unsecured Agent: Wells Fargo Bank NA

      • Legal: Vinson & Elkins LLP (William Wallander, Brad Foxman, Matt Pyeatt) & (local) Womble Bond Dickinson US LLP (Ericka Johnson)

    • Prepetition TL & DIP Agent ($255mm): Wilmington Trust NA

      • Legal: Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP (Seth Kleinman, Alan Glantz)

    • Post-Petition Lenders and Ad Hoc Group

      • Legal: Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (Joseph Minias, Paul Shalhoub, Leonard Klingbaum, Debra McElligott) & (local) Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP (Edmon Morton, Matthew Lunn)

    • Southcross Holdings LP

      • Legal: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP (Natasha Labovitz)

    • Stalking Horse Bidder:

Updated 9:39 CT

New Chapter 11 Filing - Brookstone Holdings Corp.

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Wellness, Entertainment & Travel Retailer Now Bankrupt

Brookstone Holdings Corp.

8/2/16

Source: Brookstone.com

Source: Brookstone.com

Almost exactly a month ago we asked “Is Brookstone Headed for Chapter 22?” and wrote the following:

Go to Brookstone’s website for “Gift Ideas” and “Cool Gadgets” and then tell us you have any doubt. We especially liked the pop-up asking us to sign up for promotional materials one second after landing; we didn’t even get a chance to see what the company sells before it was selling us on a flooded email inbox. Someone please hire them a designer.

On Friday, Reuters reported that the company has hired Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP(remember them?) to explore its restructuring options. What’s the issue? Well, retail. Need there be any further explanation?

The company has roughly 120 stores (20 are in airports), approximately $45mm of debt and a Chinese sponsor in Sanpower Group Co Ltd.

This is a big change from when it first filed for bankruptcy in April 2014. At the time of that filing, the company had 242 stores and approximately $240mm in debt. The company blamed its over-levered capital structure for its inability to address its post-recession challenges. It doesn’t appear to have the same excuse now.

Upon emergence, it reportedly still had 240 stores. Clearly the company ought to have used the initial bankruptcy for more of an operational fix in addition to its balance sheet restructuring. While this could be a costly mistake, the company’s sponsor is a bit of a wild card here: Chinese sponsors tend to be more disinclined to chapter 11 proceedings than American counterparts. Will they write an equity check then?

Well, we now have our definitive answers. Yes. The company filed for bankruptcy earlier today. And whether Sanpower was disinclined to file or not, well…it’s in bankruptcy. And, it will not, at least not as of now, be writing an equity check.

The New Hampshire-based company describes itself as “a product development company and multichannel retailer that offer a number of highly distinctive and uniquely designed products. The Brookstone brand is strongly associated with cutting-edge innovation, superior quality, and sleek and elegant design.” Which is precisely why we plastered a “videocassette” emoji in our title. Because that description comports 100% with the way we view the brand. But we digress.

The company has clearly engaged in some downsizing since emerging from bankruptcy a few years ago; it notes that it currently operates 137 retail stores across 40 states with 102 of those stores located in malls and 35 in airports; it also carries 700 SKUs, the majority of which fall in one of three product categories (wellness, entertainment and travel). It sells across four product channels: mall retail, airport retail, e-commerce (brookstone.com and Amazon.com), and wholesale (including TV shopping which, we believe, means home shopping network sort of stuff). For fiscal year 2017, the company had net sales of $264mm and negative EBITDA was $60mm. For the first half of 2018, net sales were $74mm and negative EBITDA was $29mm. Annualize that first number and you’re looking at a pretty precipitous drop in revenue!

The company highlights the juxtaposition between its mall and retail sales channels. Whereas the former generated ‘17 net sales of $137.9mm and negative EBITDA of $30mm, the latter generated net sales of $37.7mm and “adjusted” EBITDA of $1.4mm. We haven’t seen the numbers but we’re guessing the adjustment takes this statement into account:

Moreover, the net sales and adjusted EBITDA figures do not tell the whole story with respect to the productivity of the Airport retail outlets. As described further below, supply chain issues have limited the sales potential that would otherwise be captured with a healthy network of suppliers. The Debtors believe that through the bankruptcy they can correct the supply chain issues and allow the airport stores to greatly increase their profitability.

🤔🤔 Seeing a lot of adjustments on the basis of “belief” these days.

Likewise, the company claims that aberrational externalities affected its e-commerce operations as well. There, the company claims $55.2mm in net sales and negative adjusted EBITDA of $1mm. The company believes that the discontinuation of its catalog mailings had a detrimental impact on its e-commerce (and store retail) numbers. It notes:

As with the airport retail segment, the net sales and adjusted EBITDA associated with the Debtors’ ecommerce segment is not reflective of its true potential due to supply chain difficulties. In addition, and as described further below, technology issues and a turnover of senior level management at the e-commerce segment led to underperformance at a segment that should be performing at a significantly higher level. The Debtors believe that the bankruptcy filing will afford the Debtors the opportunity to right the operational defects that have artificially stymied the overall profitability that should be incumbent to the Debtors’ online presence.

Finally, the company claims its wholesale business has a lot of demand and has been under-utilized due to the same supply chain issues affecting its other channels.

In other words, when we said earlier that “[c]learly the company ought to have used the initial bankruptcy for more of an operational fix,” we hit the nail on the head. The company notes:

Following the 2014 Bankruptcy, sales continued to lag almost immediately. For the years ended 2014 and 2015, net sales were pegged at approximately $420 million and $389 million respectively, while adjusted EBITDA was booked at negative $38 million and negative $24 million respectively. While a number of factors contributed to the underperformance, sourcing of products and supply chain difficulties were the major drivers.

But of course there’s an overall macro overlay here too:

The drop in net sales in 2016 and 2017 was further exacerbated by the decline in the mall model as a means for consumers to buy products of the type sold by Brookstone. During this time, foot traffic at mall locations decreased drastically, as consumers continued to seek out products online as a replacement for traditional brick and mortar shopping.

The company’s e-commerce efforts could not pick up the slack. It blames leadership changes, a new platform (and a loss of data and indexing that resulted), and the discontinuation of the hard copy catalog for this. The company notes:

Because the catalogs were directly responsible for a significant portion of the web traffic on the Debtors’ e-commerce site, the negative impact on the Debtors’ online sales was dramatic.

Anyone who thinks that e-commerce can survive independent of paper mailings ought to re-read that sentence. It also explains the fifteen Bonobos catalogs we get every week and the 829-pound Restoration Hardware calalog we receive every quarter. Remember the buzzword of the year: “multi-channel.” Case and point.

To make this already (too) long story short, Sanpower kept sinking money into this sinking ship until it finally decided that it was just throwing good money after bad. Callback to July when we said they’re disinclined to chapter 11…well, lighting millions of dollars on fire will make you a little more inclined. 💥💥

Powered by a $30mm DIP credit facility (not all new money: some will be used to refi out the ABL) from its prepetition (read: pre-bankruptcy) lenders, the company intends to use the bankruptcy filing to execute an orderly store closing process and market and sell the business. This is clearly why it went to great lengths to pretty up its e-commerce, mall and wholesale businesses in its narrative. Still, the company has been marketing the business for a month and, thus far, there are no biters. Per the agreement with its DIP lenders, the company has until September 2018 to effectuate its sale process. You read that right: a company that bled out over a period of years has two months on life support.

Major creditors include Chinese manufacturers and, as you might expect, the usual array of landlords, General Growth Properties ($GGP), Simon Property Group Inc. ($SPG), and Macerich Co. ($MAC). Given the positioning of the respective businesses, we wouldn’t expect much of a mall business to survive here regardless of whether a buyer emerges.

  • Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware (Judge Shannon)

  • Capital Structure: $70mm ABL Revolver (Wells Fargo NA) & $15mm Term Loan (Gordon Brothers Finance Company), $10mm second lien notes (Wilmington Trust), $39.4mm Sanpower Secured Notes, $46.6mm Sanpower Unsecured Notes

  • Company Professionals:

    • Legal: Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP (David Feldman, Matthew Kelsey, Matthew Williams, Keith Martorana, Jason Zachary Goldstein) & (local) Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP (Michael Nestor, Sean Beach, Andrew Magaziner)

    • Financial Advisor: Berkeley Research Group LLC

    • Investment Banker: GLC Advisors & Co. (Soren Reynertson)

    • Liquidator Consultants: Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC & Hilco Merchant Resources LLC

    • Claims Agent: Omni Management Group (*click on company name above for free docket access)

  • Other Parties in Interest:

    • DIP Agent: Wells Fargo NA (Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, Glenn Siegel, Christopher Carter & Burr & Forman LLP, J. Cory Falgowski)

    • DIP Term Agent: Gordon Brothers Finance Company (Choate Hall & Stewart, Kevin Simard, Jonathan Marshall & Richards Layton & Finger PA, John Knight)

    • Indenture Trustee: Wilmington Trust NA

New Chapter 11 Filing - Orexigen Therapeutics Inc.

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Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. 

3/12/18

Orexigen Therapeutics is a publicly-traded ($OREX) biopharmaceutical company with one FDA-approved product - "Contrave" - an adjunct to a reduced-calorie diet and exercise for chronic weight management in certain eligible adults. (Before we continue, please take a minute to appreciate the exquisite creativity these folks deployed with the name, "Contrave." Control + crave = Contrave. We hope they didn't shell out too much cash money to the brand consultants for that one). 

Anyway, the drug could theoretically service the 36.5% of adults the Center for Disease Control & Prevention has identified as obese, a potential market of 91-93 million people in the United States alone. And that number is predicted to rise to 120 million people in the next several years. Yikes: that's 33% of the U.S. population. Apropos, the drug is the number one prescribed weight-loss brand in the US with over 1.8 million prescriptions written to date, subsuming 700,000 patients. The drug is also approved in Europe, South Korea, Canada, Lebanon, and the UAE. 

All of that surface-level success notwithstanding, the company has lost approximately $730 million since its inception. This is primarily because it has been spending the last 16 years burning cash on R&D, clinical studies for FDA approval, recruitment, manufacturing, marketing, etc., both in and outside the U.S. And people wonder why drugs are so expensive. The company believes it could be profitable by 2019 under its existing operating model and revenue forecasts; it enjoys a patent until 2030. 

Obviously the patent is critical because the company, through its banker, attempted a sale prior to the bankruptcy filing but proved unsuccessful. The goal of the bankruptcy filing, therefore, is to effectuate a sale with the benefit of "free and clear" status. While no stalking horse bidder is lined up, The Baupost Group LLC, is leading a group of secured noteholders (including Ecori Capital, Highbridge Capital and UBS O'Connor) to provide a $35 million DIP credit facility and buy the company some time. Will they end up owning it? 

  • Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware 
  • Capital Structure: $165mm 0% '20 convertible notes (The Baupost Group LLC), $115mm 2.75% '20 convertible notes ($25 million outstanding, Wilmington Trust NA), $49.6mm 2.75% '20 convertible exchange senior notes ($38.9 million outstanding, US Bank NA) 
  • Company Professionals:
    • Legal: Hogan Lovells LLP (Christopher Donolo, Eric Einhorn, Christopher Bryant, Jon Beck, Sean Feener) & (local) Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell LLP (Robert Dehney, Andrew Remming, Jose Bibiloni)
    • Financial Advisor: E&Y
    • Investment Banker: Perella Weinberg Partners 
    • Claims Agent: KCC (*click on company name above for free docket access)
  • Other Parties in Interest:
    • Prepetition Collateral Agent & Prepetition Trustee: U.S. Bank NA
      • Legal: Kelley Drye & Warren LLP (James Carr, Benjamin Feder)
    • DIP Lenders
      • Legal: Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP (Eric Winston)
    • DIP Administrative Agent: Wilmington Trust Company
      • Legal: Arnold & Porter (Tyler Nurnberg)
    • DIP Lender: Highbridge Capital Management LLC
      • Legal: Brown Rudnick LLP (Robert Stark, Stephen Levine, Uchechi Egeonuigwe) & (local) Whiteford Taylor & Preston LLC (Christopher Samis, L. Katherine Good, Aaron Stulman)
    • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors
      • Legal: Elliott Greenleaf PC (Rafael Zahralddin-Aravena, Eric Sutty) & (local) Irell & Manella LLP (Jeffrey Reisner, Michael Strub Jr., Kerri Lyman)

Updated March 30, 2018

New Chapter 11 Filing - GenOn Energy Inc.

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GenOn Energy, Inc.

  • 6/14/17 Recap: NRG Energy Inc. ("$NRG") owned deregulated wholesale power generation corporation and operator of 32 power plants in 8 states (Mid-Atlantic & California) filed a bankruptcy case with a restructuring support agreement agreed to by NRG and holders of 90% of the funded debt. The plan for the restructuring is to delever the company by $1b with the holders of the unsecured senior notes obtaining equity in the reorganized entity from NRG (and the right to participation in rights offering for $900mm in exit financing). This is another in a line of recent power cases including Panda Temple Power, Homer City Generation LP, Illinois Power Generating Co., La Paloma Generating Company LLC. And it probably won't be the last. The company cited the following causes - in addition to its over-levered capital structure - for the bankruptcy filing: (i) flat demand for power over the past five years, (ii) excess capacity (in part due to insufficient power plant retirements), (iii) lower cost structure for competitors, and (iv) significantly depressed natural gas prices. "This combination has caused energy and capacity prices to fall. So has the Debtors' profitability as a result." In the mid-Atlantic, electricity cleared $100 per megawatt hour in early 2014 and now the price hovers around $30 per megawatt hour. And nat gas isn't predicted to recover to industry price highs at least until 2030. So, looks like the merger that created this combined mid-Atlantic/California entity and levered this sucker up to the sky was a bit ill-timed, hey? 
  • Jurisdiction: S.D. of Texas (Judge Jones)
  • Capital Structure: $ '18 RCF (NRG Energy Inc. & U.S. Bank NA), $691mm '17 7.875% Senior Notes & $649mm '18 9.50% Senior Notes & $490mm '20 9.875% Senior Notes (Wilmington Trust Company NA), $366mm '21 8.50% Senior Notes & $329mm '31 9.125% Senior Notes (Wilmington Savings Fund Socieity FSB)    
  • Company Professionals:
    • Legal: Kirkland & Ellis LLP (James Sprayragen, David Seligman, Steven Serajeddini, W. Benjamin Winger, Christopher Hayes, AnnElyse Scarlett Gibbons) & (local) Zack A. Clement PLLC (Zach Clement)
    • Financial Advisor: McKinsey Recovery & Transformation Services U.S., LLC (Kevin Carmody, Tanner MacDiarmid, Sam Jacobs)
    • Investment Banker: Rothschild & Co. (Todd Snyder)
    • Claims Agent: Epiq Bankruptcy Solutions LLC (*click on company name above for free docket access)
  • Other Parties in Interest:
    • Ad Hoc Committee of GenOn Note and GAG Notes
      • Legal: Ropes & Gray LLP (Keith Woffard, Stephen Moeller-Sally, Marc Roitman, Meredith Parkinson) & (local) Porter Hedges LLP (John Higgins, Joshua Wolfshohl, Rachel Thompson)
    • Ad Hoc Steering Committee of GAG Notes
      • Legal: Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP (David Gerger, Emily Smith, Benjamin Firestone, Daniel Holzman)
    • NRG Energy Inc.
      • Legal: Baker Botts LLP (Emanuel Grillo, Ian Roberts, Christopher Newcomb)
    • Wilmington Trust Company
      • Legal: Covington & Burling LLP (Ronald Hewitt, Dianne Coffino)
    • Issuing Bank: Citibank NA
      • Legal: Latham & Watkins LLP (Richard Levy, David Hammerman)

Updated 7/11/17 6:47 pm CT

New Chapter 11 Filing - Panda Temple Power LLC

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Panda Temple Power LLC

  • 4/18/17 Recap: Texas-based gas-operated merchant power generator servicing the ERCOT region filed for bankruptcy because demand projections were too robust (in the face of increasing share serviced by alternative energy sources), depressed natural gas prices crushed revenues, and a regulatory attempt to reform to a capacity market failed, among other reasons. The company had been downgraded and operating pursuant to a forbearance with its lenders. Now, the company is in bankruptcy with a restructuring support agreement that outlines the terms of a transaction that will swap the term loan for 100% of the equity in the company. The company will have a $20mm DIP in play to effectuate the transaction.
  • Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware
  • Capital Structure: $398.7mm funded '22 first lien TL (inclusive of LOC and RCF - Wilmington Trust, NA)  
  • Company Professionals:
    • Legal: Latham & Watkins LLP (Keith Simon, Annemarie Reilly, Marc Zelina) & (local) Richards Layton & Finger (John Knight, Paul Heath, Brendan Schlauch, Christopher De Lillo)
    • Investment Banker: Ducera Partners (Mark Davis)
    • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on company name for docket)
  • Other Parties in Interest:
    • Ad Hoc Group of Term Lenders (Ares Capital Corporation, Avenue Capital Management II LP, Brigade Capital Management LP, Canaras Capital Management, GSO Capital Partners LP, H.I.G. WhiteHorse Capital LLC, Lord Abbett & Co. LLC, MJX Asset Management LLC, Oaktree Capital Management LP, Siemens Financial Services Inc., SOF-X Credit Holdings LLC (Starwood Credit Advisors LLC), Western Asset Management Company)
      • Legal: Stroock Stroock & Lavan LLP (Jayme Goldstein, Jonathan Canfield, Joanne Lau) & (local) Young Conaway & Stargatt LLP (Edmon Morton, Matthew Lunn, Ashley Jacobs)
      • Financial Advisor: Houlihan Lokey
    • 3M Employee Retirement Income Plan Trust
      • Legal: Blank Rome LLP (Jeffrey Rhodes, Ira Herman, Stanley Tarr)

Updated 5/3/17 

New Chapter 11 Filing - Answers Holdings Inc.

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Answers Holdings Inc.

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

Updated 4/2/17

New Chapter 11 Filing - Vanguard Natural Resources

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Vanguard Natural Resources

  • 2/2/17 Recap: Houston-based oil and gas producer files chapter 11 pursuant to a restructuring support agreement that, if implemented, will permit the company to cut over $700mm of debt. The company has secured a $50mm DIP. 
  • Jurisdiction: SD of Texas
  • Capital Structure: $1.372b '18 L+250 RBL (Citibank N.A.), $76mm '20 7% second lien notes, $51'm '19 8.375% unsecured notes (Wilmington Trust), $382mm '20 7.875% unsecured notes (UMB Bank)    
  • Company Professionals:
    • Legal: Paul Hastings LLP (Chris Dickerson, James Grogan, Todd Schwartz, Alexander Bongartz, Brendan Gage)
    • Financial Advisor: Opportune LLP (Scott Anchin)
    • Investment Banker: Evercore Partners (Daniel Aronson, Marco Acerra)
    • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk (*click on company name for docket)
  • Other Parties in Interest:
    • Ad Hoc Group of 2L noteholders (Fir Tree Inc., Wexford Capital LP, York Capital Management Global Advisors)
      • Legal: Morrison & Foerster LLP (Jonathan Levine, John Pintarelli, Daniel Harris) & (local) Jackson Walker LLP (Monica Blacker, Matthew Cavenaugh)
    • Ad Hoc Committee of Senior Noteholders & UMB Bank NA
      • Legal: Milbank (Dennis Dunne, Andrew LeBlanc, Samuel Khalil) & (local) Porter Hedges LLP (John Higgins, Eric English)
      • Investment Bank: PJT Partners Inc.
    • RBL Lender: Citibank NA
      • Legal: Weil (Stephen Karotkin, Joseph Smolinsky, Blaire Cahn, Christopher Lopez)
    • UMB Bank
      • Legal: Kelley Drye & Warren LLP (Eric Wilson, Benjamin Feder, T. Charlie Liu)
    • Wilmington Trust
      • Legal: Pryor Cashman LLP (Seth Lieberman, Patrick Sibley, Matthew Silverman) & (local) Cole Schotz PC (Michael Warner, Benjamin Wallen)
    • Independent Directors of the Board
      • Legal: Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP (Robin Russell, Tad Davidson, Joseph Buoni)
    • Unsecured Noteholder & Preferred Unitholder: Panning Capital Management 
      • Legal: Munger Tolles & Olson LLP (Thomas Wolper, Seth Goldman) & (local) Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP (William Greendyke, Jason Boland, Bob Bruner, Louis Strubeck) 
    • Ad Hoc Equity Committee
      • Legal: Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP (John Melko, Sharon Beausoleil, Michael Riordan, Sean Wilson, Holland O'Neil)
    • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors
      • Legal: Akin Gump (Charles Gibbs, Michael Stamer, Abid Qureshi, Meredith Lahaie, Kevin Zuzolo)
      • Financial Advisor: FTI Consulting

Updated 3/22/17

 

New (Chapter 22) Filing - American Apparel Inc.

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American Apparel Inc.

  • 11/14/16 Recap: Large US-based apparel manufacturer and retailer with 193 total stores files for bankruptcy - months, uh, after emerging from bankruptcy. Company filed with a $30mm DIP proposal from Encina Business Credit LLC. Plan is to sell (for parts) expeditiously to Gilden Activewear SRL for $66mm (IP, remaining wholesale inventory and wholesale POs during restructuring).  
  • Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware
  • Capital Structure: $215mm of funded debt ($90mm DIP-rolled-into-TL-exit + $82mm of additional financing) & $15mm unsecured UK facility (Standard General)    
  • Company Professionals:
    • Legal: Jones Day LLP (Carl Black, Scott Greenberg, Michael J. Cohen, Erin Brady, Stacey Corr-Irvine, Genna Ghaul, Christpher Lovrien) & (local) Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP (Laura Davis Jones, James O'Neill, Joseph Mulvihill)
    • Financial Advisor: Berkeley Research Group LLC (Mark Weinsten, Joseph D'Ascoli) & FTI Consulting (Andrew Hinkelman, Chuck Goad, Adam Saltzman, Frank Marshall, William Breashears, Zach Contreras)
    • Claims Consultants: Resources Global Professionals (Thora Thoroddsen, Evelyne Anglade, Scott Ashcraft, Luis Barreda, Sharon Dannewitz, Yolanda Hoelscher, Rodney Teruya)
    • Investment Banker: Houlihan Lokey (Saul Burian, Devin Shanahan, Sanaz Memarsadeghi, Ethan Kopp, Alexander Stolarz, Varun Desai)
    • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk (*click on company name for docket)
  • Other Parties in Interest:
    • DIP Lender: Encina Business Credit LLC
      • Legal: Riemer & Braunstein LLP (Steven Fox, Donald Rothman, Lon Singer, Alexander Rheaume) & (local) Ashby & Geddes PA (Gregory Taylor)
    • Agent to Prepetition Secured Lenders: Wilmington Trust
      • Legal: Covington & Burling LLP (R. Alexander Clark, Dianne Coffino) & Pepper Hamilton LLP (David Fournier)
    • Buyer: Gilden Activewear SRL
      • Legal: Sullivan & Cromwell LLP (Michael Torkin, Brian Hamilton, Miaoting Wu) & (local) Womble Carlyle (Matthew Ward)
    • Lead Lenders & Equityholders: Monarch Alternative Capital LP, Coliseum Capital Management LLC, Goldman Sachs Asset Management LP, Pentwater Capital Management LP, Standard General. 
      • Legal (except Standard General): Milbank Tweed (Gerard Uzzi, Eric Stodola) & (local) Fox Rothschild (Jeffrey Schlerf, L. John Bird)
      • Legal (Standard General): Debevoise & Plimpton LLP (Natasha Labovitz, Shannon Rose Selden, Craig Bruens, Erica Weisgerber) & (local) Young Conaway (Edmon Morton, Joseph Barry)
    • Largest Unsecured Creditors: Standard General, FTI Consulting, Moelis, Garden City Group
    • Unsecured Creditors' Committee:
      • Legal: Cooley LLP (Cathy Hershcopf, Seth Van Aalten, Robert Winning, Sarah Carnes, Michael Klein, Max Schlan) & (local) Bayard PA (Justin Alberto, Evan Miller, Gregory Flasser)
      • Financial Advisor: Emerald Capital Advisors (John Madden, Ryan O'Sullivan, Lawrence Jacobs, Christopher Moffatt, Jack Allen, Christopher Saitta, Daniel Pace, Ryan Feulner)

Updated 3/30/17