🐄New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing - Borden Dairy Company🐄

Borden Dairy Company

January 5, 2020

Dallas-based Borden Dairy Company and 17 affiliated companies joined fellow dairy manufacturer, Dean Foods Company (which we’ve written about here, here, here and, lastly, here upon its chapter 11 filing) in bankruptcy court this week. Why? “Like other milk producers and distributors, Borden is facing a multi-year trend of shrinking margins and increasing competition. These negative trends have been exacerbated by declining margin over milk at retail even as the price of raw Class 1 milk has been increasing.” Boo Moo.

What a storied history. Founded by Gail Borden in 1856 (PETITION Note: read the link if you want to feel awful about yourself and what you’ve accomplished in your life), the New York Condensed Milk Company started the first successful condensed milk processing plant in 1861. In the latter part of the 19th century, the company added processed and evaporated milk to its offerings and pioneered the use of glass milk bottles.

In 1919, the company changed its name to Borden Company in honor of Mr. Borden. This was a period of great uncertainty — one captured in Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” — but that didn’t stop Mr. Borden’s descendants from expanding their dairy-fueled reign. They acquired two of the largest ice cream manufacturers in the US, while also adding cheese and acquiring a chemicals company. Over those years, Borden acquired over 200 companies. “Elsie the Cow” was born in 1936 and became a well known mascot.

By the 80s, Borden was the world’s largest dairy operator with sales exceeding $7.2b. Then gravity prevailed. By the early 90s, the company experienced financial distress borne out of two much expansion over the years and sold to KKR for $2b. KKR then dismantled Borden by selling off divisions and brands to various buyers.

The debtors underwent a comprehensive restructuring in 2017. At the time of the restructuring, the debtors took on a $275mm credit facility held, in tranches, by PNC Bank and KKR. The effective interest rate on the term loan facilities was 9.3% as of 12/31/19, which is on top of the 4.95% interest due under the revolving portion of the loan. So, yeah, debt and the debtors’ interest expense nut is a big part of this bankruptcy filing.

The company is no longer the behemoth it once was. Nevertheless, it employees over 3000 people and makes tens of thousands of service calls to its customers (e.g., Walmart Inc. & Sam’s Club ($WMT)), Kroger Inc. ($KR), 7-Eleven, CVS HealthCorp. ($CVS), Starbucks Inc. ($SBUX), etc.).

But its number suck. In 2018, the company had a total net income loss of $14.6mm on ~$1.2b of sales. In 2019, the loss widened to $42.4mm. Liquidity, therefore, is a big issue — and it’s compounded by (a) interest expense and amort payments on the term loan and (b) employee obligations under mandatory retirement plans and settlements related to pension funds. More on this below.

The macro reasons for the debtors’ problems sound like a Dean Foods’ encore:

  • The milk industry is highly competitive ✅;

  • Non-dairy products and beverages are stealing share (DISRUPTION!!) ✅;

  • Discount grocers have “intensified competition and reduced the margin over milk at retail” ✅; and

  • Walmart and other retailers who use milk as a loss leader are napalming margins ✅;

  • Commodity and freight costs are up ✅.

The company doesn’t tip its hand as to what it hopes to achieve in bankruptcy other than a “breathing spell” to get its sh*t in order. The Wall Street Journal noted:

Borden Chief Executive Tony Sarsam told The Wall Street Journal that he believes Acon, which took a major stake in the company in 2017, will be the primary owner of the business after the bankruptcy. He declined to say how much debt Borden would erase as part of its bankruptcy restructuring.

Acon is currently one of the debtors’ majority owners.

*****

There’s one thing that the Wall Street Journal doesn’t pick up on though. The debtors’ pensioners are about to get the royal screw.

The debtors note that, pre-filing, they made periodic payments pursuant to two settlement agreements they entered into in connection with their withdrawal from its (a) Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund terminated in ‘14 (“Central States”) and (b) Retail, Wholesale and Department Store International Union pension fund terminated in ‘16 (“RWDSU”). In connection with the ‘17 restructuring, the debtors established a special purpose account funded with $30mm to fund these settlement payments — $185,225/month to Central States and $6,000/month to RWDSU. The account now has $26.6mm in it.

The debtors are laying claim to this money; they note that it is unencumbered by their lenders nor the pensioners.

This hasn’t been a great time for pensioners. With coal bankruptcies galore, Jack Cooper, and now the dairy producers, anxiety levels must be through the roof.

  • Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware (Judge Sontchi)

  • Capital Structure: $275mm of funded debt (see above). $30mm Term Loan A (PNC), $175mm Term Loan B (KKR Credit Advisors US LLC), $70mm RCF (PNC)

  • Professionals:

    • Legal: Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer (D. Tyler Nurnberg, Seth Kleinman, Sarah Gryll, Jeffrey Fuisz) & Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP (M. Blake Cleary, Kenneth Enos, Elizabeth Justison, Betsy Feldman)

    • Independent Directors: Harold Strunk, Andrea Fischer Newman

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

  • Other Parties in Interest:

    • ACON Dairy Investors LLC

    • New Laguna LLC

    • Agent, RCF Facility Lenders & Term Loan A Facility Lenders: PNC Bank NA

      • Legal: Blank Rome LLP (Regina Stango Kelbon, Josef Mintz, John Lucian, Gregory Vizza)

    • Term Loan B Facility Lenders: KKR Credit Advisors US LLC/Franklin Square Holdings LP

      • Legal: King & Spalding LLP (Roger Schwartz, Peter Montoni, Christopher Boies, Stephen Blank) & Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell LLP (Robert Dehney, Curtis Miller, Matthew Harvey, Matthew Talmo)

    • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors

      • Legal: Sidley Austin LLP (Matthew Clemente, Genevieve Weiner, Michael Fishel, Michael Burke) & Morris James LLP (Carl Kunz III, Eric Monzo, Brya Keilson)

New Chapter 11 Filing - Nine West Holdings Inc.

Nine West Holdings Inc.

April 6, 2018

Nine West Holdings Inc., the well-known footwear retailer, has finally filed for bankruptcy. The company will sell its Nine West and Bandolino brands to Authentic Brands Group and reorganize around its One Jeanswear Group, The Jewelry Group, the Kasper Group, and Anne Klein business segments. The company has a restructuring support agreement in hand to support this dual-process. 

More on the situation here

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

  • Capital Structure: See below.

Source: First Day Declaration

Source: First Day Declaration

  • Company Professionals:

    • Legal: Kirkland & Ellis LLP (James Sprayragen, James Stempel, Joseph Graham, Angela Snell, Anna Rotman, Jamie Aycock, Justin Alphonse Mercurio, Alyssa Russell)

    • Financial Advisor: Alvarez & Marsal North America LLC (Ralph Schipani III, Julie Hertzberg, Holden Bixler, Amy Lee, Richard Niemerg, Theodore Langer, Stuart Loop, Thomas Koch, Michael Dvorak)

      • Legal: Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP (Dennis Dunne, Andrew Leblanc, Alexander Lees)

    • Investment Banker: Lazard Freres & Co. LLC (David Kurtz, Ari Lefkovits, David Hales, Mike Weitz, Nikhil Angelo, Okan Kender, Abigail Gay, Drew Deaton) & Consensus Advisory Services LLC

    • Authorized Officers: Stefan Kaluzny, Peter Morrow, Harvey Tepner, Alan Miller

    • Legal to the Authorized Officers: Munger Tolles & Olson LLP (Seth Goldman, Kevin Allred, Thomas Walper)

    • Financial Advisor to the Authorized Officers: Berkeley Research Group LLC (Jay Borow)

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

  • Other Parties in Interest:

    • Stalking Horse Bidder/Buyer: Authentic Brands Group

      • Legal: DLA Piper LLP (Richard Chesley, Ann Lawrence, Rachel Ehrlich Albanese)

    • Prepetition ABL and FILO Agent: Wells Fargo NA

      • Legal: Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP (Matthew Ziegler, Julia Frost-Davies, Amelia Joiner)

    • Administrative Agent for the prepetition secured and unsecured Term Loan Facilities: Morgan Stanley Senior Funding Inc.

    • Indenture Trustee for 3 series of Unsecured Notes: US Bank NA

      • Legal: White & Case LLP (J. Christopher Shore, Philip Abelson) & Seward & Kissel LLP (John Ashmead, Arlene Alves)

    • Ad Hoc Group of Secured Lenders (Farmstead Capital Management LLC, KKR Credit Advisors (US) LLC)

      • Legal: Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (Marshall Huebner, Darren Klein, Adam Shpeen)

      • Financial Advisor: Ducera Partners LLC

    • Ad Hoc Group of Crossover Lenders (Alden Global Capital LLC, Carlson Capital LP, CVC Credit Partners LLC, Silvermine Capital Management LLC, Trimaran Advisors)

      • Legal: King & Spalding LLP (Michael Rupe, Jeffrey Pawlitz, Michael Handler, Bradley Giordano)

      • Financial Advisor: Guggenheim Securities LLC

    • Brigade Capital Management, LP

      • Legal: Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP (Douglas Mannel, Rachael Ringer)

      • Financial Advisor: Moelis & Company

    • Ad Hoc Group of 2019 Unsecured Noteholders (Whitebox Advisors LLC, Scoggin Management LP, Old Bellows Partners LP, Wazee Street Opportunities Fund IV)

      • Legal: Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (Rachel Strickland)

    • Ad Hoc Group of 2034 Unsecured Noteholders

      • Legal: Jones Day

      • Financial Advisor: Houlihan Lokey

    • Administrative Agent for $247.5mm DIP ABL Facility

    • Administrative Agent for $50mm DIP TL Facility

    • Sponsor: Sycamore Partners LP

      • Legal: Proskauer Rose LLP (Mark Thomas, Peter Young, Michael Mervis, Jared Zajac, Chantel Febus, Alyse Stach)

    • KKR Asset Management

      • Legal: Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP (Dennis Dunne, Andrew Leblanc)

    • Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Morgan Stanley Senior Funding Inc.

      • Legal: Ropes & Gray LLP (Gregg Galardi, Gregg Weiner)

    • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (Aurelius Capital Master Ltd., GLAS Trust Company LLC, PBGC, Simon Property Group, Stella International Trading (Macao Commercial Offshore) Ltd., Surefield Limited, U.S. Bank NA)

      • Legal: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP (Daniel Golden, David Zensky, Deborah Newman, Arik Preis, Jason Rubin, Anthony Loring, Michael Byun, Patrick Chen)

      • Legal Conflicts Counsel: Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP (David Rosner, Howard Schub)

      • Financial Advisor: Protiviti Inc. (Guy Davis, Suzanne Roski, Heather Williams, John Eldred, Justin Koehler, Brian Taylor, Russell Brooks, Matthew Smith, Blake Parker, Lee Slobodien, Omkar Vale, Lok Lam, Sean Sterling) & Province Inc. (Michael Atkinson, Jason Crockett, Eunice Min, Byron Groth)

      • Investment Banker: Houlihan Lokey Capital Inc. (Saul Burian, Surbhi Gupta, Chris Khoury, Tejas Kullarwar, Matt Ender, Brendan Wu)

Updated 11/3/18 at 6:42 am CT

New Chapter 11 Filing - Angelica Corporation

Angelica Corporation

  • 4/3/17 Recap: Thanks Obama! Alpharetta Georgia based provider of linens to the healthcare industry filed for bankruptcy to effectuate a sale to KKR Credit Advisors (US) LLC for $125mm (including a $17.4mm credit bid) - exclusive of liabilities emanating out of certain collective bargaining agreements because, well, why should anyone care about low-earning laundry employees, right? Not when you've got slicked back hair and a sick new Hamptons house to party in this Summer, right, bro? The company pointedly cites ObamaCare as a major source of pricing pressure as healthcare providers "became ever more cost-conscious to mitigate lower expected reimbursements from insurance companies." Reacting to the legislation, private customers joined forces via Group Purchasing Organizations, using strength in numbers as leverage to drive discounts with companies like Angelica. This, coupled with hospital consolidation - also apparently resultant from ObamaCare - led the company to suffer from significant revenue declines. The company has secured a $65mm DIP from certain ABL lenders to fund the bankruptcy case.
  • Jurisdiction: S.D. of New York
  • Capital Structure: $50.5mm ABL (funded, Wells Fargo Capital Finance LLC) & $85mm TL debt (Cortland Capital Market Services LLC)    
  • Company Professionals:
    • Legal: Weil (Matthew Barr, Jill Frizzley, Kevin Bostel, Joshua Apfel, Prashant Rai, Matthew Skrzynski)
    • Financial Advisor: Alvarez & Marsal LLC (John Makuch, Joel Rogers, Paul Kinealy, Bryan Fleming)
    • Investment Banker: Houlihan Lokey Capital Inc. (Bradley Jordan)
    • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on company name for docket)
  • Other Parties in Interest:
    • ABL Agent: Wells Fargo Capital Finance LLC
      • Legal: Greenberg Traurig LLP (David Kurzweil, Nathan Haynes, John Dyer, Michael Leveille)
    • TL Agent: Cortland Capital Market Services LLC
      • Legal: Holland & Knight LLP (Joshua Spencer, Renee Lewis, Barbra Parlin)
    • Stalking Horse Bidder: KKR Credit Advisors (US) LLC
      • Legal: Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP (Brian Hermann, Lauren Shumejda)
    • Largest Secured Creditors: KKR Asset Management LLC, Wells Fargo Capital Finance LLC, GACP Finance Co., LLC, Regions Bank
    • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors
      • Legal: Cole Schotz PC (Michael Sirota, Daniel Geoghan, Ryan Jareck, Warren Usitine, Mark Tsukerman, Jacob Frumkin, Rebecca Hollander)
      • Financial Advisor: FTI Consulting Inc. (Conor Tully, Marshall Eisler, Sean Eimer, Harrison West, Marili Hellmund-Mora)

Updated 5/31/17

New Chapter 11 & CCAA Filing - SquareTwo Financial Services Corporation

SquareTwo Financial Services Corporation

  • 3/19/17 Recap: Colorado-based privately held acquirer, manager, and collector of charged-off U.S. and Canadian consumer and commercial accounts-receivable filed a prepackaged plan of reorganization seeking to split the company into an acquired-co and "wind down co", with Resurgent Holdings LLC putting in approximately $264mm of new money in exchange for 100% equity in the acquired co. This is on the heels of a prior recapitalization that provided for the exchange of second lien notes for a 1.5 Lien Term Loan & preferred stock (enter Apollo and KKR here). Under the proposed plan of reorganization, the lenders holding claims under the first lien credit facilities will get paid in full; the holders of claims under the 1.5 Lien Term Loan will get a pro rata share of remaining cash; Resurgent will own the remaining business (with the rest liquidated); and the remaining creditors - including the second lien holdouts and the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System (?!?!) - will get a big fat donut. Because who gives a sh*t about public school teachers anyway: what have they ever done for folks who work at Apollo and KKR?
  • Jurisdiction: S.D. of New York
  • Capital Structure: $60mm first lien RCF ($41mm out) & $105mm first lien Term Loan (Cerberus Business Finance LLC), $15mm 1.25 Lien Term Loan (plus $1.3mm interest) & $176.1 mm 1.5 Lien Term Loan (plus $15.4mm interest) (Cortland Capital Market Services LLC), $1.9 mm second lien notes (unexchanged in prior recapitalization)(U.S. Bank National Association)    
  • Company Professionals:
    • Legal: Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (Matthew Feldman, Paul Shalhoub, Robin Spigel, Debra McElligott, Gabriel Brunswick) & (Canadian counsel) Thornton Grout Finnigan LLP (D.J. Miller, Leanne Williams, Asim Iqbal, Mitch Grossell)
    • Financial Advisor: AlixPartners LLC (Mark Thorson)
    • Investment Banker(s): Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc. & Miller Buckfire & Co. (John McKenna)
    • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on company name for docket)
  • Other Parties in Interest:
    • Prepetition Agent & DIP Agent: Cerberus Business Finance LLC
      • Legal: Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP (Frederic Ragucci, Adam Harris)
    • Ad Hoc Group of 1.25 lien and 1.5 lien Lenders (Apollo Capital Management LP, KKR Credit Advisors LLC)
      • Legal: Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP (Alan Kornberg, Elizabeth McColm, Michael Turkel)
    • Prepetition 1.25 Lien and 1.5 Lien Agent: Cortland Capital Market Services LLC
      • Legal: Holland & Knight LLP (Barbra Parlin, Joshua Spencer)
    • U.S. Bank National Association
      • Legal: Dorsey & Whitney LLP (Eric Lopez Schnabel, Alessandra Glorioso) & (local) Maslon LLP (Clark T. Whitmore)
    • Preferred Stock Holders: Apollo Investment Corporation & KKR Financial CLO 2007-1 Ltd.
    • Majority Common Stock Holders: Norwest Mezzanine Partners II LP & Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System
    • New Money Investor: Resurgent Holdings LLC
      • Legal: Foley & Lardner LLP (Patricia Lane, Michael Small, Benjamin Rikkers, Jack Haake)
    • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors
      • Legal: Arent Fox LLP (Robert Hirsh, George Angelich, Jordana Renert)
      • Financial Advisor: Gavin/Solmonese LLC (Ted Gavin)

Updated 5/31/17