Getty Images Holdings, Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions Oct. 21 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to implement a prepackaged plan of reorganization, according to an 8-K filing with the SEC.
The plan follows a restructuring support agreement (RSA) the company signed Oct. 12 with its majority shareholders and certain holders of all of its outstanding funded indebtedness. The agreement provides for a comprehensive recapitalization. The company began soliciting votes on the plan Oct. 20, before the filing, and expects to complete the solicitation during the Chapter 11 cases. It asked the court to administer the cases jointly for administrative purposes only under the caption In re Getty Images Holdings, Inc., et al.
Getty Images filed customary first-day motions seeking authority to keep operating in the ordinary course, including paying employee wages and benefits and paying vendors, suppliers and content contributors. The plan contemplates that general unsecured claims will be unimpaired. The company also filed a motion seeking approval of the debtor-in-possession financing contemplated by the RSA.
The bankruptcy filing was an event of default that accelerated the company parties’ obligations under the following debt instruments, plus accrued and unpaid interest:
- About $40.1 million of U.S. dollar-denominated term loans and about €407 million of euro-denominated term loans under a Feb. 19, 2019, credit agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank as administrative agent and collateral agent
- About $150 million of revolving loans under the same credit agreement
- About $539.9 million of 11.25% senior secured notes due 2030
- About $264.7 million of 14% senior notes due 2028
- About $5.3 million of 9.75% senior notes due 2027
Enforcement of the payment obligations is automatically stayed by the Chapter 11 filing, and creditors’ enforcement rights are subject to the Bankruptcy Code.
