Riverbed Technology, as part of its efforts to strengthen the company’s financial position, entered into a restructuring support agreement with its equity sponsors and an ad hoc group of lenders holding a super-majority of its funded secured debt regarding the terms of a comprehensive financial restructuring that will reduce its funded secured debt by more than $1 billion and provide a $100 million cash infusion, $65 million of which is available immediately. Upon consummation of the recapitalization, a group of institutional investors led by Apollo Global Management will become the majority owners of the company through their managed funds.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement, which is an important step forward in securing our long-term success as we continue to execute our strategy and deliver relevant technologies to our customers that are critical for today’s digital and hybrid workplace,” Dan Smoot, president and CEO of Riverbed Technology, said. “Since I became CEO in June, the team and I have been focused on taking Riverbed to the next level, driving profitable growth and accelerating innovation to support our customers and partners, and I am pleased with the strong double-digit bookings growth for our visibility solutions that we saw in the third quarter. Our solid business foundation enables us to take these actions, which will be critical in our ongoing initiative to strengthen our financial position and fuel our next phase of growth. Following the implementation of the RSA, we look forward to moving ahead as a financially stronger company.
“We are grateful to have the support of all the investors in our capital structure as we undertake this process, which demonstrates their confidence in our business and will enable us to complete this financial recapitalization on an expedited basis. Our team is as dedicated as ever to serving our amazing customers around the world and providing the leading end-to-end visibility and network and acceleration solutions that they have come to expect. We are confident that the proactive steps we are taking today will allow us to further invest in the company and best position Riverbed to meet the needs of our customers in the markets we serve. We thank our customers and partners for their continued support and our employees for their commitment to Riverbed.”
“We are pleased to support Riverbed in its recapitalization, which will further strengthen its financial position as it continues to deliver leading visibility and network solutions to its customers,” Chris Lahoud, a partner at Apollo Global Management, said. “Through this transaction, Riverbed will be well positioned to invest in core technologies and execute on their strategy for profitable growth. Leading this capital solution is indicative of Apollo’s role as a constructive and long-term financing partner.”
To implement the recapitalization, Riverbed is soliciting approval of the transactions contemplated by the RSA. Riverbed expects to move through this process as quickly and efficiently as possible and, with the support of its investors, anticipates completing the process on an expedited basis. In order to complete the process as expeditiously as possible, the recapitalization will be implemented through either an exchange transaction or, if necessary, an accelerated prepackaged court-supervised process. Under either mechanism, Riverbed’s operations and the acceleration of its strategy will continue as normal and channel partners and suppliers will continue to be paid in the ordinary course of business.
Riverbed’s advisors include Kirkland & Ellis as legal counsel, AlixPartners as restructuring advisor and GLC Advisors as investment banker.
The ad hoc group’s advisors include White & Case as legal counsel and Centerview Partners as financial advisor. Davis Polk & Wardwell is acting as counsel to certain members of the ad hoc group.