Cline Mining Corporation (Cline), a publicly-traded Toronto-based mining and resources company, completed a recapitalization and refinancing transaction, which included the conversion of $110 million of secured debt into new common shares representing 100 per cent of the equity in Cline, the issuance of $55 million of new secured debt and the settlement of significant class action claims under The US Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (US Warn Act). The recapitalization was completed pursuant to a plan of arrangement under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, with cross-border proceedings under Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The recapitalization allowed Cline to remain a unified corporate enterprise and significantly reduce its indebtedness.
Cline was represented in Canada by Goodmans LLP with a team consisting of Robert Chadwick, Logan Willis, and Bradley Wiffen (corporate/restructuring); Dan Dedic (banking/finance); Tim Heeney and Matthew Segal (corporate/securities); Carrie Smit (tax); and Ira Barkin (real estate), and by Robert Botts of Aab & Botts, LLC, in the United States.
The Cline’s secured noteholders were represented by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, with a team that included Jay Swartz, Natalie Renner, Derek Vesey and Jennifer Prieto (corporate/restructuring/banking and finance) and Chris Anderson (tax).
FTI Consulting Canada Inc. acted as Monitor in the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act proceedings and as Foreign Representative in the Chapter 15 Proceedings, and was represented by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP in Canada, with a team consisting of Marc Wasserman, Michael De Lellis, and David Rosenblat (corporate/restructuring), and by Allen & Overy LLP in the United States, with a team that included Ken Coleman, Jonathan Cho, and Mark Nixdorf (corporate/restructuring).
The WARN Act class action plaintiffs were represented by Antonin Pribetic of Himelfarb Proszanski LLP, in Canada, and by Mary Olsen of The Gardner Firm, P.C. and Stuart Miller of Lankenau & Miller, LLP, in the United States.