New York 04/10/2016 - By Millicent Dent
Horsehead Holding LLC has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a private company after completing its reorganisation.
“With the bankruptcy process behind us, we can now turn our full attention to our operations and strategic plans, including finalising the plans to repair and restart our Mooresboro, North Carolina, facility to provide high-quality zinc to the North American market,” Horsehead chief executive officer James Hensler said in a statement.
Any decisions regarding the Mooresboro plant, including if and when it will restart, will be taken up by the new board, Horsehead senior vice president of corporate and environmental affairs Ali Alavi told Metal Bulletin sister publication AMM via e-mail on October 3.
Under the plan, the zinc recycler eliminates substantially all of its debt, converts about $205 million of senior secured debt into equity and provides for the repayment of its debtor-in-possession credit facility. The plan also provides for full repayment of credits at Canadian subsidiary Zochem Inc, and provides distributions of cash, equity and warrants for its other prepetition creditors.
The Pittsburgh-based company’s new equity owners have also committed to fund additional equity capital to facilitate the repair and restart of Horsehead’s zinc production facility in Mooresboro. Horsehead had idled the facility in January, citing the depressed zinc price and the company’s liquidity situation.
Additionally, the company - previously Horsehead Holding Corp -is now a Delaware limited liability company rather than a Delaware corporation. The names and structures of its subsidiaries remain unchanged.
Horsehead’s top secured noteholder, New York-based Greywolf Capital Management LP, did not respond to a request for comment.
The US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware approved the company’s plan to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early September. The company had filed for Chapter 11 in February.
A lawsuit filed against the company - in which an investor representing potentially hundreds of shareholders accused Horsehead executives of lying about the viability of its Mooresboro plant - remains pending.
This article was first published by AMM. Metal Bulletin, the global metals and mining price reporting agency that also owns AMM, recently acquired 100 percent of the shares of FastMarkets Ltd.