Situation

American Commercial Lines, headquartered in Jeffersonville, Indiana, was the largest inland river barge operator in the United States.  American Commercial Lines operated more than 5,000 dry and liquid barges up and down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and their tributaries, down through the Gulf of Mexico, and also operated Jeffboat, a manufacturer of barges. Due to industry overcapacity and significant debt, the company was forced to file bankruptcy due to an inability to meet a bond payment.

Summary of Execution and Results

ToneyKorf’s professionals were retained to lead a team to take the company through bankruptcy, improve operating performance, and deleverage the balance sheet.  As a result, American Commercial Lines emerged from bankruptcy, refinanced all its senior debt, restructured its bond debt, and provided a significant recovery to unsecured creditors.

Following emergence, the company went public later that year.