Jason Industries entered into a restructuring support agreement with certain of its senior secured lenders. The agreement outlines a restructuring plan that will ultimately deleverage the company’s balance sheet by $250 million. The company expects that its vendors, suppliers and customers will remain unaffected by the transaction. Upon implementation of certain of the transactions contemplated by the agreement, the company will have the financial foundation necessary to continue to operate in the ordinary course of business.
To facilitate the changes to the company’s capital structure, Jason Industries and its U.S. subsidiaries will be pursuing protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The company does not anticipate that its operations outside of the U.S., including Europe and Mexico, will be affected by this process. The company expects to emerge as a private enterprise, and equity holders are not anticipated to receive a recovery.
The plan is supported by a majority of Jason’s first lien lenders, who have agreed to provide the company with the consensual use of cash collateral to enable Jason to operate its business in the ordinary course. Importantly, the plan will provide for no impairment of general unsecured trade creditors.
“We have worked hard over the past three years to simplify our business, improve operational performance, enhance customer relationships and transform our portfolio. Unfortunately, we were not able to realize the full benefits of these actions, the newly secured platforms and cost-reduction initiatives prior to the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic which weakened demand, disrupted our supply chain and forced us to temporarily close many of our plants,” Brian Kobylinski, CEO of Jason Industries, said. “We remain confident in the underlying strength and direction of our two businesses and are taking this step to directly address our balance sheet so that we are positioned to better serve our customers and realize Jason’s full potential. We thank our lenders, employees, customers and suppliers for their support and look forward to being an even stronger partner moving forward.”
Moelis & Company is acting as financial advisor, Kirkland & Ellis is acting as legal counsel and AlixPartners is acting as restructuring advisor to Jason Industries in connection with the restructuring. Houlihan Lokey Capital is acting as financial and restructuring advisor and Weil, Gotshal & Manges is acting as legal counsel to the consenting creditors.
