Paul, Weiss Advises Ad Hoc Lender Group in Avaya Restructuring

Paul, Weiss is advising an ad hoc investor group of first lien lenders in connection with the prepackaged chapter 11 restructuring of Avaya Holdings Corp. Avaya is a global leader in communication and collaboration solutions. The restructuring plan, which will be implemented on an expedited basis, will reduce Avaya’s total debt by more than 75% from approximately $3.4 billion to approximately $800 million.

Under the terms of a restructuring support agreement announced on February 14, two ad hoc groups committed to a $500 million new-money term loan, which, alongside an additional $128 million asset-based lending facility provided by a bank syndicate, represents a total commitment of $628 million in debtor-in-possession financing. Upon Avaya’s emergence from the court-supervised process, the financing will roll into exit facilities. Additionally, as part of the restructuring, certain members of the investor group will provide $150 million of additional new-money financing through a fully backstopped debt rights offering at exit.

The Paul, Weiss team includes restructuring partners Brian Hermann, Brian Bolin and Andrew Rosenberg, and counsel Joseph Graham; corporate partners Sarah Stasny, David Huntington and Jeffrey Marell, and counsel Lyudmila Bondarenko; executive compensation partner Rebecca Coccaro; tax partner David Mayo; and antitrust counsel Yuni Sobel and Marta Kelly.