The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware approved the sale of substantially all of the assets of Ormet Corporation, a producer of primary aluminum, and certain of its affiliates to Smelter Acquisition, a portfolio company owned by private investment funds managed by Wayzata Investment Partners.

Ormet and certain of its affiliates filed for bankruptcy protection in late February to effectuate a financial restructuring of the company. In connection with its restructuring, Ormet received aggregate commitments of $90 million of DIP financing, consisting of $30 million in term DIP financing from Wayzata and a $60 million DIP facility from Wells Fargo, which replaced its $60 million pre-petition revolver with Ormet. The DIP financings provided the company with sufficient liquidity to meet ongoing obligations and ensure the uninterrupted continuation of operations during the restructuring.

After the transaction with Smelter takes effect, Ormet will shed substantially all of its legacy liabilities and emerge with a much stronger balance sheet and sole equity sponsor in Wayzata. The company does not anticipate that the acquisition will impact Ormet’s ordinary course operations.

“Ormet made a major step forward today in finalizing our purchase agreement with Smelter Acquisition. The remaining gating issue for Ormet to exit from bankruptcy is approval of a suitable amendment to the current power arrangement authorized by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). Ormet will be submitting a requested amendment to the PUCO shortly. I want to thank the Governor, the State of Ohio, JobsOhio, our legislators, our employees, the USW and our community for the support that they have given us to reach this point,” said Mike Tanchuk president and CEO.

Previously on abfjournal.com:

Ormet to Sell Assets to Wayzata for $221MM, Friday, May 10, 2013