ATPG Senior 11.875% 2nd Lien Bonds (fka ATPG.GE)

[romang]

By Jacqueline Palank A Wilmington, Del.,

ATP Oil & Gas Corp. (ATPAQ) will return to bankruptcy court Thursday after delaying a hearing on a sale that has drawn the concerns of federal authorities and creditors. Lenders led by Credit Suisse have offered about $690 million for ATP's deep-water drilling assets in the Gulf of Mexico as well as stakes in operations in the Netherlands and Israel. ATP delayed bringing the deal before the Houston bankruptcy court after unsecured creditors called for more cash in the deal, which largely consists of debt forgiveness. ATP must also address the U.S. Department of the Interior's concern over who will clean up the drilling assets that are left behind when the sale closes. ATP filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year, loaded with debt and operational issues following a drilling moratorium ordered after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.


Also Thursday, the Reno, Nev., bankruptcy court will consider approving $495 million in exit financing for Ahern Rentals Inc. The construction-equipment company has lined up a $350 million senior secured revolving loan and $145 million term loan to help pay its creditors and emerge from the Chapter 11 case it launched in December 2011. To secure the loans, Ahern is asking the court to let it pay the revolving lenders, including Bank of America, $3.045 million in fees, while the revolving lenders would receive $5.675 million. Ahern is hoping the exit financing and its restructuring plan will trump a competing plan put forth by its bondholders. Owner Don Ahern is trying to keep control of a business started by his father in the 1950s, and his plan would pay off the company's top lenders the full $111.5 million they are owed in cash. The bondholders' plan, meanwhile, would allow the group to take over control of the company, and, in exchange, they would forgive $267.7 million in debt. If he loses his ownership stake, Mr. Ahern has threatened to start a new company, which bondholders acknowledged is something that would pose a risk to their plan's viability. -Peg Brickley and Yogita Patel
contributed to this article.



bankruptcy judge on Thursday will consider confirming School Specialty Inc.'s (SCHSQ) restructuring plan. The seller of school supplies, classroom furniture and other education items is hoping to exit Chapter 11 protection under the ownership of its bondholders, who will trade their debt in for new stock in the restructured company. Specifically, the bondholder group that provided School Specialty with a $155 million bankruptcy loan will receive 87.5% of the new common shares and $88 million in cash. All bondholders, owed $170.75 million on bonds issued before School Specialty's bankruptcy filing, would share in the remaining 12.5% of new shares under the plan. General unsecured creditors owed $20.9 million and trade creditors owed $35.56 million are each expected to recover 20% of their claims, although trade creditors may increase their recoveries to 45%. The current shares in School Specialty would be canceled, and those holders aren't slated to receive any payment under the plan. Also at Thursday's hearing, the Greenville, Wis., company will seek approval of $300 million in bankruptcy-exit financing. The loans will help the company make the creditor payments required by its restructuring plan.

(Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review covers news about distressed companies and those under bankruptcy protection. Go to http://dbr.dowjones.com) Write to Jacqueline Palank at [e-mail] Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires (END) Dow Jones Newswires May 17, 2013 13:31 ET (17:31 GMT) Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. 051713 17:31 -- GMT Story ID: MAY172013_DJB_02LI Keywords: BANKRUPTCY-RELATED FILINGS, CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY FILINGS & CASES, CORPORATE ACTIONS, ALL COMPANY NEWS, CORPORATE RESTRUCTURINGS, ENERGY, INDUSTRIAL Symbols: ATPAQ, CFDAY, CS, CSGN.VX, SCHSQ