BATAVIA, Ohio (AP) -- Plastics processing company Milacron LLC said Monday its businesses have emerged from bankruptcy following their sale to investors.
The new company, Milacron LLC, is owned by investors led by Avenue Capital Group and DDJ Capital Management LLC.
In May, Milacron Inc. said it agreed to sell substantially all its assets to a company formed by affiliates of Avenue Capital Group and DDJ Capital Management that held about 93 percent of the company's notes valued at about $175 million. Avenue Capital and DDJ took an $80 million loan to provide Milacron with $40 million. Milacron also received a $55 million in revolving credit from General Electric Capital Corp.
Milacron LLC is now a privately-held business with a "significantly stronger" balance sheet with less debt and more operating capital. The Cincinnati-area company said its liabilities are down by more than $500 million, or about 80 percent less debt than held by the previous company.
It also has secured a $55 million revolving credit facility led by Wells Fargo Foothill, part of Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America.
And a $75 million second-lien term loan facility has been provided by the new investor group.
The company will be headed by Dennis Smith, the new president and CEO,
"This sale is good news for Milacron LLC and its customers," Smith said. "The new capital structure, combined with the cost savings of operating as a private entity, gives the company considerable financial strength."
The company once known around the world for machine tools sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last March. The company said then it had struggled with weakening sales of its plastics processing equipment and industrial cutting fluids.
Once known as Cincinnati Milling Machine Co., it was founded in 1884 and later became Cincinnati Milacron. It sold its machine tool division in 1998 and shortened its name to Milacron Inc.
