Orleans Homebuilders emerged from bankruptcy on Monday (Feb. 14) essentially a new company, two weeks shy of a year after it filed for Chapter 11 protection.
The formerly publicly held builder is now a private company, its stock gone after its shares were canceled in the bankruptcy process. Controlling interest in the company is now held by three of its former debt holders, who held roughly 85% of the debt.
The Bensalem, Pa.-based company’s $500 million in debt was absorbed in the reorganization process and transformed into $160 million in new financing plus a $30 million revolving line of credit.
Orleans’ former CEO, Jeffrey P. Orleans, grandson of the 93-year-old company’s namesake and founder, resigned late last year, and is expected to be replaced by George E. Casey Jr., a seasoned home-building executive, who has been serving as special assistant to the company’s chief restructuring officer since November.
“I am proud to take the helm of this terrific company and look forward to leading an energized team of professionals in the creation of quality homes and outstanding neighborhoods for our customers,” Casey said in the news release announcing the completion of the reorganization.
Orleans’ reorganization has produced a vastly different outcome from what was planned when it filed for bankruptcy protection last year. Initially, the plan was to sell the company to the highest bidder, a process that was underway last spring when the three main debt holders suggested that the company should be reorganized rather than liquidated.
The three “plan sponsors,” who hold controlling interest in the company, are Strategic Value Partners, Anchorage Illiquid Opportunities Offshore Master, and Bank of America’s distressed debt desk.
Teresa Burney is a senior editor for Builder magazine.
Learn more about markets featured in this article: Philadelphia, PA.
