Weil is advising First Brands Group, LLC (“First Brands”), a leading global supplier of aftermarket automotive parts, in its voluntary Chapter 11 cases filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. First Brands and certain of its U.S. affiliates initiated these cases to stabilize operations and pursue a value-maximizing transaction, while continuing to deliver best-in-class aftermarket automotive technology and engineering capabilities.

To support the restructuring, an ad hoc group of cross-holders has agreed to provide $1.1 billion in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing, fully backstopped by certain members of the group. The Court has approved immediate access to $500 million of this DIP financing, which will enable First Brands to maintain operations, fulfill customer orders, and meet commitments to vendors and partners throughout the Chapter 11 process. Importantly, First Brands’ international operations are not part of the court-supervised restructuring and are expected to continue without interruption.

The cross-border Weil team advising First Brands is led by Restructuring Department Co-Chairs Matt Barr and Sunny Singh, and Restructuring partners Andriana Georgallas, Kevin Bostel and Clifford Carlson, and includes associates Jason George, Kyle Ferrier, Loren Findlay, Taylor Jones, Angeline Leggiero, John Kuebler, Thomas Palisi, Adi Bajramovic, Jarred Barlow, Nate McCabe, Joshua Winograd and Abe Rosen; Co-Head of the London Restructuring practice Andrew Wilkinson, London Restructuring partner Jenny Davidson, counsel Jonathon New and associate Hongbei Li; Frankfurt Restructuring partner Matthias Eiden and associates Melina Husic and Nicolas Nöller; Hong Kong Restructuring associate Willa Wang; Banking & Finance Co-Head Justin D. Lee and partners Thomas Mastoras and Patrick Brendon, counsel Phong Bui and Evan Nichols and associates Elena Dagley, Enrique Lopez Scherer, Megan Teltschik, Nisha Bajania, Katharine Pacoli and Ian Murdoch; Mergers & Acquisitions partners Mariel Cruz and Gavin Westerman, counsel Barrett Schitka and associates Emily Ross, Jess Serviss, Evangeline Charles and Sidy Traore; Tax partners Stuart Goldring and Jonathan Macke; Executive Compensation & Benefits Head Paul Wessel and associates Josh Schonfeld and Zachary Torres; Governance, Securities and Reporting associate Eleni Samara; Regulatory Transactions counsel Ariel Fliman; and Complex Commercial Litigation partners Robert Berezin, Jessica Falk and Theodore Tsekerides, and associates Fredrick Rhine, Keya Patel and Abby Haglage.