Ahern Rentals gets extra 120 days to prepare Chapter 11 plan

A bankruptcy court in the US has granted Ahern Rentals a further 120 days in which to prepare a restructuring plan as part of the Chapter 11 process. The deadline was expended from late April until 20 August.

Las Vegas-based Ahern filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 22 December last year with debts of more than US$600 million.

The extension will give owner Don Ahern more time to seek backing from creditors for a restructuring plan. One of its largest creditors is Platinum Equity, which was reported in March to be interested in taking over the company.

Ahern will have to present a plan to the bankruptcy court of Reno on 20 August.

Ahern Rentals is one of the top ten rental companies in North America. When the financial crisis hit, the company opened many new locations outside its core area of Nevada and moved excess fleet to these new stores.

However, the prolonged downturn lowered demand for its fleet and the company remains heavily in debt having made very large investments in its fleet in the years 2005 to 2008.