Ahern issues revised reorganisation plan

Ahern Rentals has submitted a revised plan of reorganisation as part of the Chapter 11 bancruptcy process.

The new plan, said Ahern, “projects a significantly higher enterprise value for reorganized Ahern and provides for a one hundred percent (100%) recovery to all classes of claims”.

The latest filing is a revision of the plan Ahern submitted last November and which was rejected by the Nevada bankruptcy court because it allowed Don Ahern to keep his 97% stake while lenders would be forced to take losses over time.

The new plan follows the publishing of an alternative reorganisatiion plan by a consortium of private equity companies who hold debt in Ahern. That plan required the establishment of a new set of board directors but did not confirm that current managers would be retained.

Ahern’s latest plan states that the alternative noteholders’ plan “may result in a complete change in management and, thus, is subject to greater execution risk”.

Both Ahern and the Noteholders have until 1 March to submit objections to the other's plan. The bancruptcy court will meet on 8 March to decide which plan to approve and creditors will then have the chance to vote on the plan.

Meanwhile, Ahern revealed that revenues for 2012 rose by 14% to US$380 million, which is equivalent to the company’s peak revenues in 2008. EBITDA profits rose by 50.9% to $116.7 million.

The company’s activities in Las Vegas no longer dominate to the extent that they did in the period before the financial crisis, representing 14% of revenues last year compared to 25% in 2009.