U.S. Bank National Ass'n v. T.D. Bank, N.A.

569 B.R. 12, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14954
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 27, 2017
Docket16 Civ. 441 (DAB)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 569 B.R. 12 (U.S. Bank National Ass'n v. T.D. Bank, N.A.) 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
U.S. Bank National Ass'n v. T.D. Bank, N.A., 569 B.R. 12, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14954 (S.D.N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

DEBORAH A. BATTS, United States District Judge: •

On January 20, 2016, U.S. Bank National Association (“U.S. Bank” or “Plaintiff’ filed an action for declaratory judgment against T.D. Bank, N.A. (“T.D. Bank” or “Defendant”). This matter is now before the Court on the Parties’ cross-Motions for Judgment on the Pleadings. For reasons that follow, Plaintiffs Motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, Defen[15]*15dant’s Motion is DENIED in part and GRANTED in part, and the Complaint is DISMISSED in its entirety and on the merits.

I. Background

Except where otherwise noted, the following undisputed facts are taken from the pleadings and documents incorporated therein.

A. Bionol’s Financing and Bankruptcy

This case involves the distribution of proceeds arising from the bankruptcy of a failed ethanol plant, Bionol Clearfield, LLC (“Bionol”). Bionol supported its operation and construction through secured debt financing, in which both Plaintiff and Defendant were lenders. (Compl. ¶¶ 4, 12.) Plaintiff filed this action seeking a declaration that, in accordance with the terms of a contract between the lenders, post-petition interest and fees are to be distributed before outstanding principal from the funds released from Bionol’s bankrupt estate. (Id. ¶ 4.)

Plaintiff is the successor bond trustee to approximately $65 million in bonds issued by Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority (“PEDFA”) pursuant to an Indenture of Trust between PEDFA and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., the original bond trustee. (Id ¶ 13.) PEDFA loaned the proceeds of these bonds to Bionol under a Loan Agreement (“Tranche TEX Loan Agreement”), and assigned its payment and related collateral rights under the agreement to Plaintiff. (Id ¶ 14.)

On February 6, 2008, Bionol entered into a Senior Credit Agreement (“Credit Agreement”) covering five tranches of secured loans: Tranche A Loans, with $66,740,000 of principal outstanding; Tranche B Loans, with $34,650,000 of principal outstanding; the Working Capital Loans, with $3,199,102.40 of principal outstanding; Tranche TEX Loans, with $64,675,406 of principal , outstanding; and Tranche C Loans, with $29,700,000 of principal outstanding. (Id. ¶ 15.) The Tranche TEX Loans are the loans funded under the Tranche TEX Loan Agreement and owing to Plaintiff, the sole lender under Tranche TEX. (Id. ¶ 12.)

Defendant is one of the lenders under Tranche A, Tranche B, and the Working Capital Loans. (Compl. ¶ 4; Ans. ¶ 4.) Defendant was also appointed Collateral Agent and Administrative Agent of the signatory lenders under the Credit Agreement. (Compl. ¶¶ 3,18.)

On the same day that the Credit Agreement was executed, the Lenders also entered into an Intercreditor Agreement. (See Intercreditor Agreement (“IA”); Compl. Ex. E.) The Intercreditor Agreement assigns Defendant, in its capacity as Agent, the right to undertake enforcement actions with respect to the Lenders’ pooled liens against Bionol’s collateral. (Compl. ¶ 18.) Section 3.04(f) of the Intercreditor Agreement then provides an order of priority for the distribution of collateral proceeds among the Lenders. (Id. ¶ 21; Ans. ¶ 21.)

Under the Intercreditor Agreement, Tranche A Lenders, Tranche B Lenders, the Working Capital Lenders, and Tranche TEX Lenders are defined as Senior Lenders. (IA § 1.01.) The term “Financing Documents” is defined in the Credit Agreement as including, inter alia, both the Credit Agreement and the Intercreditor Agreement. (Credit Agreement (“CA”) Ex. A at 18; Compl. Ex. D, part 2 at 64.)

Bionol filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on July 20, 2011. (Compl. ¶ 2.) In accordance with the Credit Agreement, Defendant, in its capacity as Agent, filed a proof of claim and attempted to recover on the collateral. (Id. ¶ 22.) On September 16, 2015, the Bankruptcy Court authorized Bionol’s [16]*16Chapter 7 Trustee to release $10,561,452.93 of the collateral proceeds to Defendant. (Id. ¶¶ 3, 22.) The Parties expect another $14.4 million to be released to Defendant shortly. (Id, ¶ 23.) However, because the Parties cannot agree upon how the released funds should be allocated among the Lenders, Defendant has yet to distribute the proceeds. (Id.)

B. The Governing Documents

The Parties agree that the Financing Documents govern the resolution of their priority dispute, but disagree as to the correct interpretation of the Documents. Specifically, both Parties agree that section 3.04(f) of the Intercreditor Agreement provides the relevant order of distribution for the proceeds released to Defendant.

Section 3.04(f) of the Intercreditor Agreement provides that proceeds received “upon the exercise of remedies (whether prior to or during the pendency of any Insolvency or Liquidation Proceeding),” are to be applied in the following order:

(i) to pay Fees, costs and expenses then due and payable under the Financing Documents or the Tranche TEX Loan Documents (including the fees and expenses of the Bond Trustee1 and any arbitrage rebate amounts due on the Bonds);
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(iii) to pay any interest then due and payable to the Tranche A Lenders, Tranche B Lenders, Tranche TEX Lenders and Working Capital Lenders under the Financing Documents and the Tranche TEX Loan Documents, as applicable, payable equally and ratably based upon the outstanding principal balances of the Working Capital Loans, the Tranche A Construction Loans, the Tranche B Construction Loans, and the Tranche TEX Loans;
(iv) to pay any principal amounts due and payable with respect to all outstanding Tranche A Loans, the Tranche B Loans, the Tranche TEX Loans and Working Capital Loans in the amounts specified in the Credit Agreement; provided, that, such principal shall be paid in the following order of priority (in each of the following instances ratably and equally based on the outstanding principal balances of the relevant Loans); first, to the Tranche A Lenders; second, to the Tranche B Lenders; third, to the Working Capital Lenders, and fourth, to the Bond Trustee in respect of the Tranche TEX Loans;
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(LA § 3.04(f).) In turn, section 3.04(c) of the Credit Agreement provides that:

Interest hereunder shall be due and payable2 in accordance with the terms hereof, before and after judgment, regardless of whether an Insolvency or Liquidation Proceeding exists in respect of the Borrower,3 and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Lenders shall be entitled to receive post-petition interest during the pendency of an Insolvency or Liquidation Proceeding.

(CA § 3.04(c).)

The Credit Agreement and the Inter-creditor Agreement both include cross-re[17]*17ferential principles of interpretation. For example, section 1.01 of the Intercreditor Agreement provides that the “rules of interpretation contained in Section 1.02 to the Senior Credit Agreement shall apply to this Agreement,” IA § 1.01; section 1.02 of the Credit Agreement similarly provides that “terms for which meanings are provided in this Agreement shall have the same meanings when used in each other Financing Document.” (CA § 1.02.)

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Bluebook (online)
569 B.R. 12, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14954, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/us-bank-national-assn-v-td-bank-na-nysd-2017.