AMHERST, N.Y. — Mark IV, manufacturer of highly engineered systems and components for the worldwide automotive OEM, automotive aftermarket, heavy duty and transportation markets, said today it has received final approval from the bankruptcy court of its $90 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing agreement to continue operations, pay employees wages and benefits and purchase goods and services during the restructuring period. Mark IV had previously received commitments for its DIP financing from a loan syndicate led by JP Morgan Chase.
On April 30, Mark IV filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Mark IV’s International and IVHS operations were not included in the filing and will continue their business operations without supervision from the U.S. courts.
"With our final DIP financing in place, and the support of the vendor community, our employees and our customers, Mark IV is in an excellent position to move to the next stage of the restructuring process with confidence," said Interim Chief Executive Officer of Mark IV Industries, Jim Orchard.
As previously announced, the company has already reached agreement in principle with a steering committee of its senior lenders on a plan of reorganization and new capital structure for the reorganized company and as a result expects to successfully complete its restructuring expeditiously.
In other actions, the court approved the company’s motions to honor certain prepetition obligations to customers and to continue other customer programs including warranties, rebates, returns, refunds, exchanges, adjustments, promotions, credits and guarantees, and to establish procedures and resolution for payment of reclamation claims. Mark IV also received final court approval to, among other things pay contractors in satisfaction of liens and make payments for pre-petition obligations to foreign creditors.
"We are pleased to have received final bankruptcy court approval of our first day motions which should enable Mark IV to operate globally without interruption and meet normal business obligations throughout the restructuring period," Orchard said.
