Car-rental company Hertz Global Holdings Inc. said late Wednesday it has exited bankruptcy as a “much stronger” company ready to capitalize on a travel rebound.
Hertz HTZGQ,
The stock has rallied in recent weeks, and is up nearly 45% for the month and 583% this year. In April the company accepted a sweetened deal to exit bankruptcy.
The company filed for chapter 11 in May 2020, drowning in nearly $20 billion in debt and hit hard by travel restrictions put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Less than a month after the filing, the company gained notoriety by floating a plan to sell up to $500 million worth of shares, to the surprise of many and even as the company itself warned that the shares could be “worthless.” Hertz later nixed the deal after it drew scrutiny from securities regulators.
Hertz said Wednesday it has more than $5.9 billion in new equity capital provided by Hertz’s new investor group, led by Knighthead Capital Management LLC, Certares Opportunities LLC, and certain funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Capital Management, LP.
Hertz has cut nearly $5 billion of debt, including all of Hertz Europe’s corporate debt, and emerges with a new $2.8 billion exit credit facility, including a $1.3 billion revolving credit facility, and a $7 billion asset-backed vehicle financing facility, it said. The terms of each credit facility are “extremely favorable,” Hertz said.
The company’s new ticker symbol, effective July 1, will be HTZZ, the company said.
