Squire Patton Boggs has won the ‘Turnaround of the Year Award (large)’ for its innovative work on the Ferrellgas Partners pre-packaged chapter 11 restructuring.
The Turnaround Atlas Awards, presented by Global M&A Network, recognize the best value-creating transactions, outstanding firms, professionals and leaders from the global restructuring, insolvency, and distressed investing communities.
Stephen D. Lerner, Global Chair of the Restructuring & Insolvency Practice, who co-led the Squire Patton Boggs team with Edward J. Newberry, Global Managing Partner, Public Policy, Compliance, Investigatory and Regulatory Solutions, and long-time advisor to Ferrellgas said, “We’re delighted to achieve this recognition. It was an honor for the Squire Patton Boggs team to support Jim Ferrell and Ferrellgas through a complex and challenging restructuring. We worked closely with the company and their other advisors to deliver a strategic restructuring and refinancing plan that both strengthened the company’s balance sheet and allowed it to continue operating as an employee-owned enterprise.”
In December 2020, Ferrellgas entered into a Transaction Support Agreement (TSA) with the holders of US$357 million of senior notes that provided for a comprehensive restructuring of the publicly-traded parent (Ferrellgas Partners, L.P.) to address the maturity of its notes and a complete refinancing of more than US$2 billion in debt at the operating company (Ferrellgas, L.P.). The parent restructuring was accomplished through a pre-packaged chapter 11 plan in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
Simultaneously with the completion of the pre-packaged chapter 11 plan, the operating company successfully entered into a new US$350 million senior secured revolving credit facility; issued US$1.475 billion in new senior unsecured notes due in 2026 and 2029, and sold US$700 million in senior preferred equity. The proceeds of these transactions were used to satisfy, in full, all existing operating company debt obligations.
The restructuring transactions enabled the nearly 100-year-old propane retailer to continue to serve the propane needs of millions of Americans in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, during a pandemic year that was also heavily impacted by record-cold temperatures in many parts of the country.