Cypress Environmental Partners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and reached a restructuring support agreement with its priority senior secured lender, an affiliate of Argonaut Private Equity, that is expected to clear approximately $58 million worth of debt. The petition was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston division. Paul Hastings is serving as legal counsel.

Judge Isgur entered a series of interim orders on “first day” motions that will facilitate Cypress’s continued normal business operations and reorganization efforts, including continuing to pay employee wages and other obligations. In addition, the court heard Cypress’s emergency scheduling motion and set a hearing date of June 21 to consider both Cypress’s prepetition solicitation and confirmation of its prepackaged plan of reorganization.

Cypress also secured a $5 million debtor-in-possession financing facility from Argonaut that, combined with cash from operations, would provide enough liquidity during the Chapter 11 proceedings to continue business as usual. The facility is subject to court approval.

“With this important first step, we hope to have our plan confirmed before the end of June to allow our valuable employees to no longer be distracted so that they may solely focus on serving our customers,” Peter C. Boylan III, chairman, president and CEO of Cypress, said.