Champion Bankruptcy Includes $40M DIP
Company expects to emerge from bankruptcy in five months.
November 16, 2009
Champion Enterprises has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Troy, Mich.-based company announced its filing Sunday, saying it had secured $40 million in debtor-in-possession financing.
The factory-built construction company filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Its operations in Canada and the U.K. will not be affected, the company said. The $40 million DIP facility was obtained from current lenders; Credit Suisse is the lead agent.
Champion will likely achieve its restructuring through a sale of its operations. There are already several interested buyers, according to the company.
A company spokeswoman said that Champion expects to be out of bankruptcy in about five months.
The heavy leverage the company carried proved too much in the downturned economy, despite having cut operations and idle plants beginning in mid-2006, Champion's chairman, president and CEO, William Griffiths, said in a statement. The company’s debt includes $400 million in senior unsecured notes and $180 million in 2.75% convertible notes.
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