Anagram International has announced it is pursuing a sale of the company and has entered into an agreement with a group of its lenders as the ‘Stalking Horse’ bidder to acquire its assets.
As part of the agreement, which is subject to higher or otherwise better offers and court approval, the bidder has committed to hire all Anagram employees and assume all pre- and post-petition trade payables.
To facilitate an orderly sale process, the company has filed voluntary petitions for protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas and the sale will be conducted through a court-supervised process under Section 363 of the code, providing potential buyers the opportunity to submit offers.
Anagram has received a commitment of $22 million in debtor-in-possession financing from the group of existing secured lenders. Following court approval, this new financing, combined with cash on hand and positive cash flow being generated, will adequately support the business and satisfy obligations.
In April 2023, Anagram appointed Adrian Frankum, senior managing director at Ankura Consulting, as chief restructuring officer.
Adrian commented: “Having carefully reviewed all available strategic options, we believe that a sale of the business will provide Anagram with the best path forward to accelerate global growth and strengthen our market leadership.
“As we move through this process, we remain focused on delivering innovative products to our customers worldwide with minimal disruption, and we are grateful for their trust in us. We thank all our Anagram employees for their ongoing hard work and excellence, and we also extend our gratitude to our customers and trade partners, suppliers, and vendors for their continued support.”
Anagram has filed customary motions seeking court approval to continue its operations during the process, including the continued payment of employee wages and benefits. It has also filed customary motions seeking court approval to continue its customer programmes without interruption and expects to continue meeting commitments to customers and to meet all post-petition obligations to vendors.
