Aclines: American Commercial Lines Announces Restructuring Deal

American Commercial Lines Inc. (ACL) announced Tuesday it had entered into a restructuring support agreement (RSA) with entities that currently hold a substantial majority of the company's term loan debt. Under the RSA, ACL's term loan debt, which totals approximately $1 billion, will be converted to equity. In addition, certain of these term loan lenders will provide ACL with an additional $200 in capital to support liquidity and investments in the business. Once the restructuring is completed, these term loan lenders will own the vast majority of equity in a financially restructured ACL. The identities of the lenders were not disclosed.ACL is one of the U.S.'s largest barge operators, with a fleet of 3,094 dry cargo barges, 406 liquid barges and 188 towboats.Prepackaged Bankruptcy FilingTo implement the RSA, ACL indicated it plans to file a "prepackaged" bankruptcy package and reorganization plan under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The filing is expected to occur by the end of this week in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.In addition to the conversion of nearly $1 billion in debt to equity and $200 million in new capital, ACL also indicated that the company had received a commitment for debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing consisting ...Full story available on Benzinga.com