MD Helicopters entered into an asset purchase agreement with a creditor consortium led by Bardin Hill and MBIA Insurance. The creditor consortium will acquire nearly all of the company’s assets and provide new capital to strengthen MD’s financial position and support the company’s continued ability to manufacture and service its high-performance helicopters. The company expects to continue its regular course of operations throughout the sale process and remains focused on serving its civil and military customers and working with suppliers as normal.
As part of the transaction process, the company today filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code in Wilmington, DE. Doing so provides a forum that will allow for a quick and orderly sale of the company, with the creditor consortium serving as the “stalking horse bidder” in a court-supervised sale process. Accordingly, the proposed transaction with the creditor consortium is subject to higher or otherwise better offers, court approval and other customary conditions.
“Since last year, we have been exploring a potential sale of the company that would enable us to move forward with new ownership to support MD’s continued manufacturing operations and maintenance services long into the future, as well as deleverage our capital structure,” Alan Carr, sole director and chairman of the board of MD Helicopters, said. “After a thorough review of the options available to us, we believe this transaction and court-supervised process will help achieve our objective and create the best path forward for MD and all of our stakeholders. We are as dedicated as ever to meeting our customers’ high expectations no matter the mission, and we appreciate the hard work of our employees as we take this important step to position MD for the future.”
“MD has a storied history in the aerospace industry and a track record of delivering exceptional performance, value and support to its operators,” Jason Dillow, CEO and chief investment officer of Bardin Hill, said. “We believe MD is on an exciting growth trajectory, led by a strong management team, state-of-the-art technology, and an established brand. We look forward to working with the MD team in this new chapter for the company.”
In connection with the proposed sale transaction, the company has received a commitment of approximately $60 million in debtor-in-possession financing from accounts managed by Bardin Hill and MB Global Partners. Upon court approval, this new financing, together with cash generated from MD’s ongoing operations, is expected to support the business throughout the sale process.
In conjunction with the chapter 11 filing, the company has filed a number of customary motions with the court seeking authorization to continue to support its operations during the court-supervised sale process, including authority to continue, without interruption, paying employee wages and benefits and honoring customer commitments and programs and authority to pay the existing (i.e. as of the date the cases were commenced) claims of several categories of key vendors consistent with historical practices.
