Slowed by COVID, TNT Crane & Rigging Files for Prepackaged Chapter 11 Restructuring

Houston-based TNT Crane & Rigging has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with a plan to reshape its balance sheet as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. CEO Michael Appling said in the filing that the pandemic strongly affected its customers, particularly those in the oil-and-gas industry. TNT Crane, one of the fastest growing crane rental service companies in North America, said it has $666 million in debt with $466 million maturing in the coming months.

The economic downturn propelled TNT into negotiations with its lenders, leading to a prepackaged plan to trade debt for equity in the company. The company began looking for investor proposals last year as the maturity of the $466 million in debt loomed closer, but, Appling said, the proposals were not satisfactory. With the development of the pandemic, the company opted for the bankruptcy filing, first negotiating with its first- and second-tier lenders. The current plan has been approved by 98 percent of the $465.7 million in first lien revolving and term loans and 93 percent of the $185 million in second-lien debt. The submitted plan calls for the first-lien lenders to trade their debt for 97 percent of the equity of the reorganized TNT.

Lenders will provide a $45 million debtor-in-possession loan facility and a $100 million exit facility.

The company expects the plan to be approved by the court in early October and to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of October.

TNT Crane was founded in 1965 and has grown through multiple acquisitions in recent years. Appling said in the filing that the strength of the company is its diversity, with no one industry comprising more than a quarter of its business. TNT has diverted its involvement in the oil-and-gas industry, which now represents only about 11 percent of the company’s business. Appling noted that other areas in the company’s portfolio are expecting a resurgence as the economy rebounds.

The case was filed August 23 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Case No. 20-11982.

TNT Crane & Rigging, based in Houston, is No. 12 on the RER 100. It has 42 branch locations and reported $482 million in revenue in 2019, with $317.6 million coming from rental.