Marblegate Asset Management, LLC v. Education Management Corp.

111 F. Supp. 3d 542, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81395, 2015 WL 3867643
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJune 23, 2015
DocketNo. 14 Civ. 8584(KPF)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 111 F. Supp. 3d 542 (Marblegate Asset Management, LLC v. Education Management Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marblegate Asset Management, LLC v. Education Management Corp., 111 F. Supp. 3d 542, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81395, 2015 WL 3867643 (S.D.N.Y. 2015).

Opinion

[543]*543 OPINION AND ORDER

KATHERINE POLK FAILLA, District Judge:

This is the second opinion stemming from the restructuring of the debt of Education Management Corporation, Education Management L.L.C., and Education Management Finance Corporation (collectively, “EDMC” or “Defendants”). Defendants, in negotiations with the Steering Committee for the Ad Hoc Committee of Term Loan Lenders of Education Management (the “Steering Committee” or “Intervenors”), agreed to a debt restructuring in which bondholders would receive partial recovery in the form of debt and/or equity. Marblegate Asset Management, L.L.C., and Marblegate Special Opportunities Master Fund, L.P. (collectively, “Marble-gate” or “Plaintiffs”), dissented from the restructuring plan, as a result of which, under the restructuring as originally conceived, they would retain their original claims but be left with no assets as security for those claims. Marblegate sought a preliminary injunction under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 (the “Trust Indenture Act” or the “Act”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 77aaa-77bbbb; the Court denied the request for injunctive relief in Marblegate Asset Management v. Education Management Corp., 75 F.Supp.3d 592, No. 14 Civ. 8584(KPF), 2014 WL 7399041 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 30, 2014) (“Marblegate I”). EDMC subsequently carried out the restructuring, while leaving in place mechanisms to pay Marblegate’s claims if necessary. Marblegate now seeks declaratory, monetary, and potentially injunctive relief. EDMC counterclaims for declaratory relief allowing it to remove the mechanisms put in place to preserve Marblegate’s rights. The Court, having converted the preliminary injunction hearing into a bench trial at the request of the parties and having received supplemental exhibits and briefing, now rules in favor of Plaintiffs for the reasons set forth in this Opinion and Order.

BACKGROUND1

A. Factual Background

The Court assumes familiarity with its prior Opinion denying Marblegate’s request for a preliminary injunction, but briefly retraces the relevant facts. The case arises out of EDMC’s decision to restructure roughly $1.5 billion in debt. Marblegate I, 75 F.Supp.3d at 597, 2014 WL 7399041, at *3. EDMC, a for-profit education company, was inhibited from restructuring through bankruptcy by its reliance on federal funds distributed through Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1079-1099. Marblegate 1, 75 F.Supp.3d at 594-97, 2014 WL 7399041, at *1-2. Declaring bankruptcy would have rendered EDMC ineligible for Title IV funds, depriving it of nearly 80% of its revenue. Id.2 Accordingly, EDMC [544]*544negotiated an agreement with a group of its largest creditors to carry out the Proposed Restructuring. Id. at 599-602, at *6-7.

Prior to the since-consummated restructuring, EDMC’s debt consisted of $1,305 billion in secured debt (divided between $220 million drawn from a revolving credit facility and $1,085 in secured term loans) and $217 million in unsecured notes (the “Notes”), for a total debt of $1,553 billion. Marblegate I, 75 F.Supp.3d at 597, 2014 WL 7399041, at *3. The instant case focuses on the unsecured Notes, which were qualified under the Trust Indenture Act (Indenture §§ 6.07, 12.01). Although the Notes were unsecured and issued by a subsidiary, Education Management LLC, they were guaranteed by EDMC (the “Parent Guarantee”). Id. at 597-98, at *3-4 The Parent Guarantee recited, however, that it could be released either by majority vote of the Noteholders (Indenture § 9.02) or by a corresponding release of the Parent Guarantee by the secured lenders (Indenture § 10.06),3 and accordingly the Notes’ offering circular cautioned investors not to assign any value to the Parent Guarantee. Id.

The Ad Hoc Committee of Term Loan Lenders with which EDMC negotiated consisted of creditors holding 80.6% of EDMC’s secured debt and 80.7% of the Notes; the negotiations were primarily carried out by the Steering Committee, which collectively held 35.8% of EDMC’s secured debt and 73.1% of the Notes. Marblegate I, 75 F.Supp.3d at 599-601, 2014 WL 7399041, at *6. EDMC and the Steering Committee arrived at the Proposed Restructuring, which would provide secured term loan lenders debt and equity in EDMC amounting to roughly a 55% recovery; holders of Notes would receive equity amounting to roughly a 33% recovery of value. Id.

The Restructuring Support Agreement anticipated 100% voluntary participation by creditors, but contained a stick that would come into effect if any creditors did not consent. That stick, the Intercompany Sale, would involve several steps:

(i) the secured lenders would release EDMC’s parent guarantee of their loans ..., thus triggering the release of EDMC’s parent guarantee of the Notes under Indenture § 10.06; (ii) the secured lenders would exercise their rights under the 2014 Credit Agreement and Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code to foreclose on “substantially all the assets” of Defendants; and (iii) the secured lenders would immediately sell these assets back to a new subsidiary of EDMC. This new subsidiary would then distribute debt and equity to the creditors who had consented to the Restructuring Support Agreement in accordance with that document’s terms.

Marblegate I, 75 F.Supp.3d at 601-02, 2014 WL 7399041, at *7 (internal footnotes and citations omitted). As EDMC explicitly warned the Noteholders in its Exchange Offer, the result of the Intercompany Sale would be that “substantially all of our assets will have been transferred to New EM Holdings and will not be available to satisfy the claims of [dissenting Noteholders], As a result, we anticipate that such Holders will not receive payment on account of their Notes.” Id. (quoting Exchange Offering Circular 3). Thus, although the Intercompany Sale would not formally alter the dissenting Noteholders’ right to payment on their Notes, it was [545]*545unequivocally designed to ensure that they would receive no payment if they dissented from the debt restructuring.

B. The Preliminary Injunction Hearing

Marblegate, which held roughly $14 million of Notes, declined to participate in the Exchange Offer, and on October 28, 2014, filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction. Marblegate I, 75 F.Supp.3d at 602-03, 2014 WL 7399041, at *8.4 The parties agreed to halt both the Proposed Restructuring and Marblegate’s motion to allow for expedited discovery and briefing prior to a hearing on November 18 and 19, 2014. Id.5 In advance of the hearing, the parties provided the Court with over 400 exhibits, in addition to the affidavits and deposition testimony of six fact witnesses and six experts. After hearing cross-examination and redirect of these witnesses on November 18, and oral argument on November 19, the Court issued its opinion in Marble-gate I on December 15, filing it publicly on December 30, 2014.

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111 F. Supp. 3d 542, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81395, 2015 WL 3867643, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marblegate-asset-management-llc-v-education-management-corp-nysd-2015.