SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Coyne International Enterprises Corp. (Coyne), a U.S. commercial laundry service company, is progressing in its Chapter 11 case filed here in July in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of New York, and remains on track to complete three planned sales of its operating units in a balance sheet restructuring, the company reports in a press release.
The company says the three planned sales are: New Bedford, Mass., which will be sold to Clean Uniforms and More!; Richmond, Va., and Greenville, S.C., which will be sold to Prudential Overall Supply; and the remaining plants and service centers—Bristol, Tenn.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Cleveland; London, Ky.; Syracuse, N.Y.; and York, Pa.— which will be acquired by Coyne’s existing senior management team. All of the sales are subject to higher and better bids, the company adds.
Coyne is operating under the supervision of the Bankruptcy Court, and Coyne’s current management team is leading the company throughout the Chapter 11 process. Coyne recently filed notices under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act); these were part of ensuring a seamless transition to buyers with no service interruption to customers.
“The WARN Act filings were a formality because there will be a change of control in Coyne’s business entities,” says Mark Samson, Coyne’s CEO. “There are buyers lined up for all of Coyne’s facilities. There are two locations that could be impacted by possible layoffs—New Bedford, Mass., and Greenville, S.C. Under the existing deal, approximately 525 jobs will be preserved out of approximately 620 positions.”
Subject to Bankruptcy Court approval, NXT Capital LLC has agreed to provide Coyne with $3.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing to finance the company’s operations in Chapter 11.
Herrick, Feinstein LLP is representing Coyne as lead bankruptcy counsel. Phillips Lytle LLP is local counsel. Coyne’s financial adviser is CohnReznick LLP, and its investment banker is SSG Capital Advisors LLC.
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