Ahern Rentals Granted Stay Motion Pending Appeal of Exclusivity Ruling

Ahern Rentals this morning was granted a stay motion in U.S. District Court pending the appeal of bankruptcy court Judge Beesley’s termination of its period of exclusivity. Ahern Rentals filed its plan of reorganization Nov. 30, but Beesley terminated the company’s period of exclusivity Dec. 7. The U.S. District Court for Nevada ruled that “the relief requested by the stay motion is in the best interest of the debtors’ estates and creditors.”

The stay motion is effective as of Dec. 7. Therefore even if an alternate plan of reorganization had been filed by an Ahern Rentals’ creditor, the plan would not be valid. There is no clear time frame for when the appeal will be ruled on.

In the meantime, Ahern Rentals has been trying to negotiate with its creditors. “We’re having talks right now with the term lender,” Ahern Rentals chief financial officer Howard Brown told RER. “We are trying to work out a consensual plan with both the note holders and the bond holders, basically all the creditors. And we’re working to get exit financing also.”

As 2012 comes to an end, it’s apparent that business has picked up considerably for Ahern Rentals. EBITDA has increased significantly to more than $100 million according to the most recent reports the company filed with the court, compared to about $46 million in the second quarter of 2010.

Don Ahern told RER the company just had its biggest month in the company’s history. “It exceeded any month we ever had, even back in the peak year of 2008,” Ahern said. “We just purchased just under 500 aerial work platforms. We bought about 170 booms from JLG, 160 scissorlifts from SkyJack, and 151 small forklifts from Genie.”

Based in Las Vegas, Ahern Rentals is No. 7 on the RER 100. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a year ago.