IRVINE, Calif., September 10, 2021 – Force Ten Partners LLC (“Force 10”) today announced the completion of the restructuring effort for CarbonLite Holdings, LLC and its subsidiaries (“CarbonLite”), one of the world’s largest suppliers of post-consumer recycled polyethylene terephthalate (“rPET”), which is then used to produce high-quality food-grade recycled rPET material sold to the world’s largest beverage companies. On March 8, 2021, CarbonLite filed a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy to maximize the asset values of its four manufacturing facilities. The restructuring efforts were led by Force 10 co-founder Brian Weiss who served as the Chief Restructuring Officer.
Force 10 was initially retained during the fourth quarter of 2020 to navigate underperformance, operational challenges, and solvency issues surrounding its complicated capital structure consisting of approximately $380 million of indebtedness, including $250 million of secured indebtedness across three publicly traded municipal bonds, a term loan, an ABL facility, and multiple capital lease obligations.
Force 10 led CarbonLite’s restructuring efforts and evaluated multiple strategies to maximize value, including Section 363 asset sales, recapitalization, and insolvency strategies. During the case, the Force 10 team secured $80 million in new money debtor-in-possession financing to ensure business operations and in-process construction projects.
Under Weiss’ direction, the debtors conducted a complex four-part asset sale to individual purchasers for CarbonLite’s manufacturing facilities. These sales resulted in approximately $230 million in transaction value, including $63.9 million for the company’s assets in Dallas, Texas to Indorama Ventures Holdings LP, $98.1 million in Reading, Pennsylvania to DAK Americas LLC, $57.4 million in Riverside, California and the CarbonLite IP to TSG Shelf II Acquisition LLC, and $9.6 mm for Pinnpack Packaging LLC in Oxnard, California to Pinnpack Capital Holdings LLC. In addition, the asset sales substantially preserved all of CarbonLite’s non-executive jobs.
“Through this process, CarbonLite’s mission to decrease the amount of PET plastic that ends up in landfills will continue,” said Weiss. “The plant purchasers will carry on CarbonLite’s mission, resulting in more than 300 million tons of plastic bottles being converted into recycled materials each year.”
Force Ten Partners LLC is an advisory firm with deep domain knowledge in financial and operational corporate restructuring, valuation, forensic accounting, and complex litigation support. Force 10 serves middle-market companies as well as their creditors, stakeholders, and professionals by providing turnaround-management services (CRO), financial advisory services, expert witness support, and investment banking and M&A advisory services.