Getty Images Files Chapter 11, Koch-Backed $533M Plan Wipes Out Shareholders
Summary
Getty Images filed prepackaged Chapter 11 in Delaware on Wednesday, implementing the restructuring support agreement signed October 12. The Getty family and Koch Equity Development take 100% ownership via an equity investment of up to $533 million, and existing shareholders get nothing. A Koch affiliate is providing up to $143 million in financing to fund the case, and the company expects to exit by year-end. The filing triggers automatic defaults on roughly $1 billion plus EUR407 million of secured and unsecured bonds, term loans and a revolver. This follows the August Q2 miss and guidance withdrawal, the September missed interest payment and grace period, and the NYSE delisting that pushed the stock to OTC Pink at under two cents — the equity was already priced for zero, so the news confirms rather than surprises.
At the time of this announcement, GETY was trading at $0.01 on OTC in the Trade & Services sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $7M. The 52-week trading range was $0.00 to $3.21. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 8 out of 10. Source: Dow Jones Newswires.