Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker partner Jesse Austin is representing a group of lenders—including UBS and General Electric Capital—on providing financing to a Texas-based trucking company that filed for bankruptcy this week.
Austin, a financial services and restructuring partner in Paul Hastings’ Atlanta office, specializes in debtor-in-possession lending, according to the law firm’s web site.
The trucking industry has been hit hard [see Deal Watch Blog story from Oct. 10] by a variety of factors, including a rise in fuel costs and declines in shipments by retailers and automakers. A number of trucking companies have filed for bankruptcy this year, including Jevic Holding Corp. and Jim Palmer Trucking.
GWLS Holdings Inc.’s Greatwide Logistics Services filed for Chapter 11 protection on Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Greatwide is financing its daily operations with debtor-in-possession lending of as much as $73.6 million from UBS, GE Capital and Abelco Finance LLC, according to a court filing. Paul Hastings is advising UBS, GE Capital and Abelco.
Greatwide, of Dallas, operates dozens of subsidiaries engaged in freight trucking, logistics and brokerage industries. The company’s customers include Wal-Mart, Ford Motor, General Motors and UPS, according to Greatwide’s web site.
As part of its Chapter 11 filing, Greatwide said that it has agreed to sell itself to two private equity firms, Centerbridge Capital Partners LP and D.E. Shaw & Co., according to a press release. Other companies will be allowed to make higher offers during the bankruptcy procedure, Greatwide said.
Among Greatwide’s largest creditors are Comdata Corp. of Birmingham, Ala., and Atlanta, owed an estimated $2.5 million in trade debt; Ryder Transportation Services of Atlanta, owed an estimated $200,000; and Great Dane Trailers of Atlanta, owed $52,000.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor are bankruptcy co-counsel to Greatwide. Paul Hastings partner Leslie Plaskon in New York is working with Austin on advising the DIP lenders.