First Brands Group Receives Court Approval to Immediately Access $500 Million of $1.1 Billion in Debtor-in-Possession Financing

Obtains interim court approval of First Day motions to support continued business operations

International operations remain unaffected and continue in the ordinary course

Committed to delivering for customers as the Company secures a long-term future for its portfolio of leading brands

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Brands Group, LLC (“First Brands” or the “Company”), a leading global supplier of aftermarket automotive parts, today announced that the Company has received approvals from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “Court”) for its “First Day” motions related to the Company’s chapter 11 cases for its U.S. operations.

The Court granted approval to immediately access $500 million of the $1.1 billion in debtor-in-possession (“DIP”) financing from an ad hoc group of cross-holders (the “Ad Hoc Group”), which includes substantially all of the Company’s first lien debtholders. The DIP financing will provide the necessary capital for the Company to maintain operations and meet commitments to its customers and supplier partners. Additionally, the Company received authorization from the Court to, among other things, continue to pay employee wages and benefits without interruption, continue customer programs in the ordinary course, and pay vendors and suppliers in full for goods and services provided on a post-petition basis.

“We are pleased to have received Court approval to access significant new funding and continue operations as usual. This additional financing will enable First Brands to stabilize operations, improve fulfillment of customer orders, and meet our commitments to supplier partners going forward,” said Chuck Moore, Chief Restructuring Officer of First Brands. “We are grateful to our financial partners for their support, and remain laser-focused on delivering for our customers at the highest levels throughout this process.”

Additional Information

The chapter 11 cases pertain only to the Company’s U.S. operations. First Brands’ international operations as well as the Company’s Novares North America and Ultinon Motion businesses are not a part of the financial restructuring process and continue to operate in the ordinary course of business. Additional information regarding First Brands’ chapter 11 process is available at https://restructuring.ra.kroll.com/firstbrands. Stakeholders with questions may call the Company’s Claims Agent, Kroll, at [phone] or [phone] if calling from outside the U.S. or Canada, or email [e-mail].

Advisors

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is serving as legal counsel, Lazard is serving as investment banker, Alvarez & Marsal is serving as financial advisor, and C Street Advisory Group is serving as strategic communications advisor to First Brands.

About First Brands

First Brands Group™ is a global automotive parts company that develops, markets and sells premium products through a portfolio of market-leading brands including: Raybestos^® complete brake solutions, Centric Parts^® replacement brake components, StopTech^® performance brakes, FRAM^® filtration products, Luber-finer^® filtration products, TRICO^® wiper blades, ANCO^® wiper blades, Michelin^® licensed wiper blades, Carter^® fuel and water pumps, Autolite^® spark plugs, StrongArm^® lift supports, Carlson^® brake hardware, CARDONE^® new and remanufactured replacement parts, and our towing & trailering portfolio composed of REESE^®, DRAWTITE^®, BULLDOG^®, TEKONSHA^®, FULTON^®, Westfalia^® along with Hopkins^® universal owned and licensed brands and Philips^® licensed aftermarket lighting. The First Brands Group™ portfolio of world-class brands offers best-in-class technology, industry-leading engineering capabilities and superior customer service.