Jack Cooper Exits Bankruptcy
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Jack Cooper Holdings Corp. has exited its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, the auto-hauling logistics company said Nov. 4.
Officials with the Kennesaw, Ga.-based company successfully completed a court-supervised restructuring process that preserved jobs for more than 2,500 employees. About 2,000 of those are union members.
Officials said Jack Cooper will move forward as “a significantly deleveraged company with new capital that will allow for reinvestment in the business, with the goal of replacing 80% of its fleet with new equipment over the next five years.”
A modified collective bargaining agreement was ratified by an overwhelming majority of union employees in early September, the company said.
Riggs
“With debt reduction of more than $300 million, a new Teamsters contract that helps ensure our future financial viability and new ownership by longtime partner Solus Alternative Asset Management, Jack Cooper is now well-equipped to better compete, grow our market share and continue to successfully serve our customers for years to come,” CEO Michael Riggs said.
Jack Cooper, which focuses on over-the-road finished vehicle, ranks No. 60 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America with revenue of $581 million in 2018.
The company said in August that it would be “business as usual” for Jack Cooper, despite the filing. The auto hauler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Aug. 6, according to documents filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia.
Jack Cooper officials said the company’s largest lenders agreed to cancel its debt as part of a transaction to purchase all or substantially all of the company’s assets. The company told Transport Topics in August that New York hedge fund Solus Alternative Asset Management committed, along with other creditors, to invest in new capital in the restructured company, enabling Jack Cooper to maintain normal operations and pay employees and suppliers in the ordinary course of business.
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