CLEVELAND, Jan. 3, 2005 (PRNewswire) -- GEO Specialty Chemicals Inc. and its subsidiary, GEO Specialty Chemicals Ltd., announced that they emerged from bankruptcy on Dec. 31 pursuant to their reorganization plan approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey 11 days earlier.
"GEO's emergence from Chapter 11 in just over nine months from its filing date is a testament to the hard work and commitment of our employees and the support of our financing sources, key vendors and customers. Our plan ultimately enjoyed the support of all classes of creditors and its confirmation by the Bankruptcy Court on Dec. 20 clears the way for a significantly de-levered GEO to focus on serving its customers with a view to sustained profitable growth," said George P. Ahearn, GEO's president and CEO.
Through its reorganization GEO has discharged over $135 million of unsecured obligations and cancelled its prepetition common shares and warrants. On Dec. 31, GEO repaid its prepetition senior secured facilities and debtor-in-possession arrangement with its new $125 million senior note facility. The new facility provides GEO with about $10 million in additional liquidity. Pursuant to the plan, GEO will also make cash distributions of about $4.3 million to general unsecured creditors and certain key continuing vendors. GEO currently intends to remain a privately held company.
William P. Eckman, GEO's Executive Vice President and CFO, said "The closing of our new financing is expected to provide adequate funding for GEO's ongoing operating needs. The combination of our improved liquidity and key continuing vendor program should allow us to return to normal trade credit terms in the near future." Mr. Ahearn added, "We have seen a significant improvement in our financial performance during the 12 months ended Nov. 30, 2004 with EBITDA of $22.2 million during that period, up from $15.3 million for the same period in 2003. Revenues for the 12 months were $170 million, up from $153 million for the same period in 2003. The preliminary outlook for 2005 is for continued top line growth and an improvement in earnings driven primarily by sustained increases in the U.S. economy, more favorable export opportunities due to the decline in the dollar and higher prices overall."
GEO is a global manufacturer of specialty chemicals serving the water- treatment, rubber and plastics, coating, construction, opto-electronics and compound semiconductor industries. GEO has nineteen plants in the USA, two plants in Europe and one plant in Australia.
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