News article
Laurus wins Gemini Air Cargo
by John Blakeley Posted 05:33 EST, 14, Aug 2008
A Delaware judge on Thursday, Aug. 14, approved Laurus Master Fund Ltd.'s acquisition of bankrupt Gemini Air Cargo Inc.
Laurus won substantially all of Gemini's assets with a $15 million credit bid. Its victory was assured when no other qualified bidders emerged to acquire the twice-bankrupt air cargo carrier prior to a scheduled Aug. 12 auction. Judge A. Jay Cristol of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami approved the sale in an Aug. 14 order.
At the time of Gemini's June 18 Chapter 11 filing, Laurus was owed about $21 million on a prepetition term loan and $2.5 million on a prepetition revolver, secured by a first-priority blanket lien on all of the company's assets.
The New York hedge fund also provided a debtor-in-possession loan of up to $13.7 million. Terms of the DIP required Gemini to pursue a fast-paced liquidation process: The debtor had to reach an agreement to sell its assets by Aug. 13.
The sale to Laurus will close three business days after Thursday's order approving the transaction, court documents show.
Calls to debtor counsel Paul Steven Singerman of Berger Singerman PA were forwarded to Gemini spokesman Don Creston, who did not return calls on Thursday.
Battered by high fuel prices and a slowing economy, Dulles, Va.-based Gemini and three affiliates filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware on June 18.
The company also lamented a significant decrease in its "extremely profitable" Air Mobility Command business beginning in October. Gemini provides transportation for troops under contract with the U.S. Department of Defense but has seen a downturn in the business since switching contract teams in October 2007, according to court filings.
Gemini's second bankruptcy in just 22 months came on the heels of a $21.2 million loss on nearly $138.9 million in revenue in 2007. The company's sluggish pace continued this year with a first-quarter loss of almost $7 million on revenue of about $32.5 million.
The airline first filed for Chapter 11 on March 15, 2006, after maintenance-related problems that began in 2005 eventually led to canceled contracts and declining demand, prompting the need for a restructuring.
Gemini emerged from the first bankruptcy on Aug. 14, 2006, under the control of investment firms H.I.G. Capital LLC and affiliate Bayside Capital Inc.
Though it slashed roughly $50 million in long-term debt from its balance sheet during its first bankruptcy, Gemini was unable to bring costs low enough to prepare it for the current fuel price spikes.
Gemini tapped the Seabury Group LLC to market its assets during the latest bankruptcy.