Helikopter - Erickson ber om beskyttelse under Chapter 11 - AIN

Erickson Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

by Mark Huber

 - November 10, 2016, 11:53 AM

Helicopter services company Erickson Inc. filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday in Dallas, listing some $561 million in debt. The move comes after Portland, Oregon-based Erickson missed scheduled November 1 debt interest payments and days after the resignation of former chairman Quinn Morgan from Erickson's board.

Companies controlled by Morgan bought Erickson in 2007, took it public in 2012, and engineered its 2013 acquisition of Evergreen Helicopters and Air Amazonia, which loaded down Erickson with $355 million in debt at the same time the global oil-and-gas market was collapsing. It subsequently lost critical defense-support and fire-suppression contracts, leading it to post large quarterly losses over the last several years.

Erickson characterized the bankruptcy filing as “consensual” and said the company is negotiating to receive $60 million in debtor-in-possession financing from lienholders to finance continuing operations as it navigates court-supervised reorganization from which it plans to emerge next year. Erickson currently employs 700 worldwide and operates a diverse rotorcraft fleet, including the S-64 Aircrane (formerly the Sikorsky Skycrane), for which it holds the type certificate.