ACBL Successfully Completes Recapitalization
American Commercial Barge Line Holding Corporation announced April 30 that it has successfully completed its recapitalization and emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization.
“ACBL is moving forward as an inland barge transportation leader and continuing to provide customers with safe, reliable and competitive solutions,” the company said in a release. “With $200 million in new equity capital and having reduced its funded debt by approximately $1 billion, the company has a strong financial foundation to support investments in future growth initiatives.”
“Today is in an important day for our company, our team members, our customers and our business partners,” said Mark Knoy, president and CEO of ACBL. “Having quickly completed our recapitalization, we are a stronger company with the financial flexibility to build on our decades-long legacy of industry leadership. Looking ahead, we will be able to devote our available resources to competing in today’s market. We look forward to continuing to provide the safest, most cost-effective and environmentally friendly barge transportation solutions for many years to come.”
Barge business has been steady, Knoy told The Waterways Journal, despite the impacts to the economy of oil price plunges and the COVID-19 virus.
“I just spoke to two captains with ACBL who have been with us for 40 years, starting out as deckhands,” he said. “Despite the unprecedented situation we find ourselves in, two things about our business never change: people pay us to move cargoes from Point A to Point B, and we need captains to run our vessels.”
Knoy said he hopes to see export activity to China resume.
“On behalf of all of us at ACBL, I’d like to thank our customers, vendors and other business partners for their support throughout this process,” he said. “I am also deeply grateful to our dedicated teammates for their hard work and unwavering commitment to working safely. They will continue to be the ultimate drivers of our success as we continue meeting the evolving needs of our customers.”
Milbank LLP served as the company’s legal counsel, Greenhill & Company served as its financial adviser and Alvarez & Marsal North America LLC served as restructuring adviser.
