internet Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-inves...article1446189/ Brent Jang Globe and Mail Update Published on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010 1:20PM EST A group of lenders has taken majority control of Aveos Fleet Performance Inc., formerly named Air Canada Technical Services. Aveos, which repairs Air Canada's fleet of aircraft, had been facing a cash crunch. The Montreal-based company owed at least $715-million to a consortium of lenders last year, according to an audit of Aveos conducted by KPMG. Aveos said Wednesday that its debt will be chopped to $75-million from $800-million as part of the recapitalization plan to close by the end of the first quarter. Certain lenders will provide $75-million in working capital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrlupin Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-inves...article1446189/ Brent Jang Globe and Mail Update Published on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010 1:20PM EST A group of lenders has taken majority control of Aveos Fleet Performance Inc., formerly named Air Canada Technical Services. Aveos, which repairs Air Canada's fleet of aircraft, had been facing a cash crunch. The Montreal-based company owed at least $715-million to a consortium of lenders last year, according to an audit of Aveos conducted by KPMG. Aveos said Wednesday that its debt will be chopped to $75-million from $800-million as part of the recapitalization plan to close by the end of the first quarter. Certain lenders will provide $75-million in working capital. What a zoo... Some questions come to mind... I wonder what the implications will be for the employees? Who are the lenders? What happens with ACE's 29% ownership stake? What is ACE's equity position in ACE (are they responsible for their share of the debt?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rattler Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Here is the press release that addresses some of your questions. Aveos reaches agreement on recapitalization plan Reduces its debt from approximately $800 M to $75 M MONTREAL, Jan. 27 /CNW Telbec/ - Aveos Fleet Performance Inc. (formerly ACTS) today announced that it has reached an agreement in principle with its lenders to reduce its outstanding debt and create an appropriate capital structure to support the company's long-term strategic plan and business objectives. Under the terms of the agreement, Aveos' first and second lien debt will be reduced from approximately $800 million to $75 million. In addition, certain of the lenders will provide a new working capital facility of $75 million. As part of the transaction, Aveos' lenders have agreed to convert their remaining debt into equity and Air Canada will hold a minority stake. "We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with our lenders," stated Chahram Bolouri, Aveos President and CEO. "The new capital structure combined with healthy EBITDA margins and a reduced cost structure will lay a foundation for long term growth and provide Aveos with the operating and financial flexibility to support its business plans and work with customers to leverage future growth opportunities." "We look forward to a continued strong relationship with our customer, Air Canada, and thank our new owners, our other customers, employees, union, partners and suppliers for their continued support during the recapitalization process. It underscores their belief in the fundamentals of the company's business and its short-term and long-term outlook" continued Mr. Bolouri. The closing of this transaction is expected to take place in the first quarter and is subject to customary closing conditions. Aeroman, the Aveos affiliate in El Salvador, will not be affected by the restructuring. Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP are acting, among others, as legal advisors and Miller Buckfire & Co., LLC is acting as financial advisor to Aveos. Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP are acting as legal advisors and SkyWorks Capital, LLC is acting as financial advisor to the first lien lenders. Goodmans LLP are acting as legal advisor and RBC Capital Markets are acting as financial advisor to the second lien lender. About Aveos Aveos is a full-service maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provider of airframe, engine, component and maintenance solutions. From maintenance facilities across Canada and in El Salvador, we provide integrated service solutions to over 100 customers, while focusing on building a robust network of strategic alliances. Aveos is committed to a tradition of providing world-class quality and expertise to customers across the Americas. To learn more, visit aveos.com. Frequently Asked Questions Consensual Financial Restructuring Q. What did Aveos announce today? A. We announced that we have reached an agreement in principle with our lenders to reduce our outstanding debt and create an appropriate capital structure to support the company's long-term strategic plan and business objectives. Q. What does today's announcement mean? A. This is very good news for our company, our employees, customers, partners and suppliers. The announcement means that the parties have agreed on the framework for a new appropriate capital structure. The restructuring plan will reduce our financial debt from approximately $800 million to approximately $75 million. In addition, it will provide Aveos with a new $75 million working capital facility (line of credit). The new capital structure, combined with healthy EBITDA margins and a reduced cost structure will lay a foundation for long- term growth and provide the financial flexibility to support our business plans. Q. How is the restructuring plan changing Aveos ownership? A. Aveos will have new owners. As part of the transaction, the lenders have agreed to convert their remaining debt into equity and will hold a majority stake. Air Canada, Aveos' largest customer will become a shareholder with a minority stake. The new owners believe that the fundamentals of the company's business remain strong and the short- term to long-term outlook is positive. Q. What prompted the new owners to participate in the plan to recapitalize Aveos? A. The new owners are firmly convinced that the fundamentals of our business are strong and the short-term to long-term outlook is positive. Their participation will improve our financial flexibility and put us in an even stronger position to work with our customers to leverage mutual growth opportunities as we move forward. Q. Will the restructuring plan affect daily operations? A. The restructuring plan, or recapitalization, will position us to better focus on our operations, grow our business and do what we do best - offer customers the best value, quality services and reliability. Day-to-day contacts will remain the same and operations will continue as planned for employees, customers and suppliers. Q. Does this announcement mean Aveos is out of operating capital? A. On the contrary, Aveos has reached an agreement in principle with lenders on the terms of a plan to reduce its outstanding debt and create and appropriate capital structure to support the company's long-term objectives. Coupled with our strong financial performance in 2009, our debt reduction and a new $75 million working capital facility (line of credit), we have the financial flexibility to support our business plans and the operating flexibility to work with customers on growth opportunities. In fact, despite the difficult economic environment, Aveos has been EBITDA-positive for the past 9 of 11 quarters and its cash flow from operations has been positive since Q1 2007. Moreover, Aveos has been weathering the economic crisis and generating healthy EBITDA margins while working on restructuring its finances, and significantly reduced its costs in 2008 and 2009 in line with new economic realities. As a matter of best practice, we will continue to manage our cash tightly, diligently control costs and aggressively improve our businesses. Q. Are there any conditions to the implementation of the financial restructuring? A. The closing of this transaction is expected to take place in the first quarter, and is subject to customary closing conditions. Q. What is the short-term to long-term forecast for Aveos? A. Aveos is paving the way for a brighter future. We will be emerging from our financial restructuring process with a much healthier balance sheet and are generating healthy EBITDA margins. The new capital structure combined with healthy EBITDA margins and reduced cost structure will put us in an even stronger position to work with our customers to leverage mutual growth opportunities as we move forward. Q. Going forward, what is Aveos' strategy and overall mission? A. Aveos continues towards its vision of becoming a total solutions provider of maintenance services. We have been building a network of partners to deliver comprehensive and seamless fleet performance expertise, expanding our capabilities and improving our speed of delivery - key benefits for our customers. Our deep industry knowledge from having been a part of an airline allows us to better focus on meeting customer needs and the objectives in our business plan are designed to achieve short-term to long-term profitability, while offering customers the best value, quality services and reliability. We are emerging from our recapitalization stronger, better aligned to meet the needs of a changing market and with the operating flexibility to be a world-class leader in the MRO industry. Q. Does the restructuring process affect Aeroman? A. Aeroman, the Aveos affiliate in El Salvador, is not affected by the restructuring. Q. Is there any impact on employees as a result of the restructuring? A. There is no impact on employees as a result of this restructuring. As well, the terms of the collective agreement are unaffected. Q. How will the consensual restructuring affect customers? A. The new capital structure, healthy EBITDA margins and reduced cost structure will lay a solid foundation for long-term growth and give Aveos the financial flexibility to support its business plans. We will be in an even stronger position to work with our customers to leverage mutual growth opportunities, and better focused on meeting their needs and offering them the best value, quality services and reliability. Q. Does the financial restructuring have any impact on payments for goods delivered or services rendered? A. There are no changes to our partners' ongoing relationship with Aveos. They should communicate with their usual contacts regarding ongoing payments. For further information: Michael Kuhn, Director, Communications, (514) 856-6789, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conehead Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 What a shell game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 What a zoo... Some questions come to mind... I wonder what the implications will be for the employees? Who are the lenders? What happens with ACE's 29% ownership stake? What is ACE's equity position in ACE (are they responsible for their share of the debt?) ACE wrote off its ownership long ago. I bet it disappeared in the fine print of this deal. My question is how much is AC's stake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 What a shell game! It actually looks like a standard bankruptcy reorg to me, without the employees being asked for anything. The original shareholders are out. The creditors are the new shareholders. I'm trying to figure out AC's stake, both the percentage and the reason for it. Does it get a stake for keeping the current services contract whole, or does it get a stake for property contributed to the restructured venture. I'd say ACE is gonzo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yul07 Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Dagger does this mean the orig share holders lost all of their investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 My question is how much is AC's stake. That is a very good and important question!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Dundee Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Milton is still laughing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Dagger does this mean the orig share holders lost all of their investment. Seems so. ACE is out, KKR Sageview, out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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