Hertz Proposes Shareholder Payout as Part of Bankruptcy-Exit Plan
Hertz Global Holdings Inc. agreed to provide some value to equity holders when it leaves chapter 11, vindicating the individual traders who have insisted the company is worth something despite its bankruptcy filing.
Hertz proposed in a chapter 11 exit plan on Wednesday that current stockholders receive warrants to purchase up to 4% of the restructured business, the first time the company has said it is worth enough to distribute some value to its owners.
The shareholder distribution would amount to a recovery of 60 to 70 cents per share, a “material return to equity,” Hertz lawyer Thomas Lauria said during a court hearing Wednesday.
If approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., that outcome would make Hertz a relative rarity in corporate bankruptcies, in which equity ranks behind debt and most often is wiped out. Hertz shares closed at $1.74 on Wednesday, down 8.4% on the day but up 36% year to date.
The proposed distribution to equity is part of a restructuring proposal put forth by Dundon Capital Partners LLC, Centerbridge Partners LP and Warburg Pincus LLC, selected by Hertz earlier this month after a competitive process to finance the company’s exit from chapter 11.
