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ZINC - Horsehead Holding Corp


wknecht

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Race - I agree. However, details regarding why the Equity Committee withdrew its objection to creditors vote would be interesting to know. Without that rationale, it remains too much speculation.

 

Must be sealed or confidential, I haven't seen a release on the docket website yet either.

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Guest roark33

I know everyone loves ZINC, but these "confidential" bids just seem odd to me.  Why would you call up Guy Spier with your bid instead of mgmt.  And the idea that mgmt is just not disclosing these bids because they are somehow working in concert with greywolf seems a little far-fetched. 

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Roark - I'm not usually partial to conspiracy theories but I'd like to point out that there are only two options - either management is not only dumb but also careless (not understanding that a minor slipp up triggers cross default) OR they were happy to accept that this would lead to default (in which case you would have to wonder why they would be happy with that).

 

Just my 0.02

 

C

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Guest roark33

The whole idea of a "minor slip up" represents a misunderstanding of bankruptcy by the equity holders in ZINC.  There wasn't a minor slip up, but a recognition that this was their last time to file for bankruptcy.  As a corporation, you do not file for bankruptcy when you have no money, you need to file when you still have a fighting shot at getting a DIP loan and have a further fighting chance to reorganize and emerge as a going concern.  That's what ZINC did. 

 

If on the other hand, you wait until you have absolutely no money, you will very little chance of getting a DIP loan and then be forced into liquidation, which rarely gives any stakeholders the best shot at recovery. 

 

The pieces of ZINC may be worth something, but the Moorseboro plant is basically worth zero or negative.  I just think people got mislead into this name when the equity was at $10 and now they are being misled (ironically by one of the same people) that their equity still has potential to be worth something on the flip side. 

 

 

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So then the statement that they made around the time about there being no issue and there being a grace period, which meant no event of default had occurred was a lie?

 

The whole idea of a "minor slip up" represents a misunderstanding of bankruptcy by the equity holders in ZINC.  There wasn't a minor slip up, but a recognition that this was their last time to file for bankruptcy.  As a corporation, you do not file for bankruptcy when you have no money, you need to file when you still have a fighting shot at getting a DIP loan and have a further fighting chance to reorganize and emerge as a going concern.  That's what ZINC did. 

 

If on the other hand, you wait until you have absolutely no money, you will very little chance of getting a DIP loan and then be forced into liquidation, which rarely gives any stakeholders the best shot at recovery. 

 

The pieces of ZINC may be worth something, but the Moorseboro plant is basically worth zero or negative.  I just think people got mislead into this name when the equity was at $10 and now they are being misled (ironically by one of the same people) that their equity still has potential to be worth something on the flip side.

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Guest roark33

Yes, basically.  Every company that is about to file for bankruptcy doesn't want to admit it, otherwise their suppliers will immediately stop working with them.  But, if you can read financial statements, you should be able to read between the lines.  Very few instances of missed interest payments do not result in a bankruptcy filing. 

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That is a fair assessment, at this point, shares are at same level when they first disclosed grace period. As a result, holding on to see if shareholders get anything has been worth it. While still good chance of going to zero, it is not a foregone conclusion just yet, imo.

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Guest roark33

Maybe this was in the first proposal by the creditors, but I read the amended proposal that was filed this week and it offers two options.  One of them is just to mothball the Moorseboro facility.  That shows how badly current mgmt screwed up in building it and being honest about the fixes. 

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Maybe this was in the first proposal by the creditors, but I read the amended proposal that was filed this week and it offers two options.  One of them is just to mothball the Moorseboro facility.  That shows how badly current mgmt screwed up in building it and being honest about the fixes.

 

Yea, but look at the financial scenarios, still a case to be made significant value remains in this business.

 

Link: http://dm.epiq11.com/HOC/Docket Docket 1277

 

 

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So from what I gather from the 8K today and the recent dockets...

 

Bids cannot be solicited, but should any unsolicited bids for the company come forward they will have to directly discuss with the Board of Directors (not involving management or secured debt).  Seems to be the sensical decision for the judge to make - if there truly is interest then they have an opportunity to speak up.

 

Looks like if there isn't then the common will be a $0.

 

Any other takeaways?

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Yes, basically.  Every company that is about to file for bankruptcy doesn't want to admit it, otherwise their suppliers will immediately stop working with them.  But, if you can read financial statements, you should be able to read between the lines.  Very few instances of missed interest payments do not result in a bankruptcy filing.

 

I am curious, are there recent examples of missed interest payments that didn't result in bankruptcy?

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Guest roark33

FELP hasn't filed for bankruptcy (yet), and I don't think they will in the near future.  Other than that, I can't think of one....all the others have filed. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

What does Nastasi partners withdrawal from Horsehead bankruptcy proceeding mean? They cite potential conflict of interest as a reason.

 

The conflict of interest I suspect is the cap on money regardless of what is stated in the docket IMO. They used 1/3 of money in the short time while Nastasi Partners worked the case. Good representation isn't cheap and Ancela's rate was around 1000 per hr. I think Ancela and her team did a good job laying the groundwork from the little I saw, but the Shareholder Equity Committee was put in the position of having to play the long game. Judge Sonchi in his efforts to prevent a legal spending frenzy also capped the quality of representation shareholders could afford.

 

Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A. remains as counsel to the Equity Committee, and accordingly, the withdrawal of Nastasi Partners will leave a member of the bar of this district as

attorneys of record for the Equity Committee.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
Guest roark33

Isn't the final bid for "asset sales" due soon.  In other words, we get to see if Spier really had "bids" for prices higher than the total enterprise value of the whole company.  Also, shouldn't equity be a donut fairly soon? 

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There are some interesting lawsuits around ZINC that I posted before.  Basically the guy who designed the NC plant left, the construction was bumbled etc.

 

So without the NC plant the company is worth what someone is bidding right?  I'm not sure why this is suspicious?  Here's how I'm thinking about it.

 

This is like someone auctioning off three cars, two late model BMW's in working condition worth $15k a piece.  Then a failed restoration of a rare Porsche.  Once you take the spare parts out of the passenger seat, spend a considerable amount of money to finish and wait for the auction market to recover the car will be worth a lot.

 

In this scenario the buyer is willing to pay for the decent cars and maybe a token amount for the failed restoration.  Sure everyone can see that it has potential, but there are so many "ifs" that you can't really value the thing at it's final finished value.  Which is what ZINC was doing with their plant.

 

 

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