Grove Worldwide announced on 25 June that the Bankruptcy Court has approved the adequacy of its disclosure statement for its joint plan of reorganisation.
The approval of the disclosure statement allows Grove to begin soliciting votes for approval of its plan of reorganisation. The hearing to confirm the plan is scheduled to start on 14 August 2001.
“We are very pleased that the court has approved the adequacy of our disclosure statement,” said Jeff Bust, chairman and chief executive officer. “With the continued support of our secured lenders and other stakeholders and the solicitation of acceptances about to begin, Grove Worldwide is squarely on track to emerge from Chapter 11 expeditiously with a more appropriate capital structure and sufficient financial resources to fuel future growth and development.” Under the terms of the plan, Grove’s suppliers and other general unsecured creditors (other than bondholders) will receive a cash payment equal to 100% of allowed claims.
On 7 May 2001 Grove announced that it had reached an agreement with its secured lender bank group and is actively negotiating with its senior bondholders on a financial restructuring of the company. To implement the restructuring, Grove filed voluntary petitions for reorganisation under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code together with a “prenegotiated” plan of reorganisation that embodies the terms of the restructuring.
Under the terms of the plan, Grove’s debt would be reduced from $584m to $205m and annual interest expense would be reduced from $63m to $17m.
Grove received approval on 7 May 2001 to pay pre-petition and post-petition employee wages, salaries and benefits during the restructuring. All pre-petition employee benefits, wages and salaries have been continued without change since that approval was granted.
The company filed its voluntary petitions and plan of reorganisation on 7 May in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.
