Cooper-Standard Files for Bankruptcy

Today, it is being reported that Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  Cooper-Standard will be joining other parts makers who have filed for bankruptcy this past year due to economic hardships.  In its bankruptcy paperwork, the company listed that it has $1.8 billion in debt.

The company is owned by Goldman Sachs Group and a private equity firm named Cypress Group.  Prior to filing for bankruptcy, the company, which is based in Novi, Michigan, had been holding discussions with lenders.  Its leaders were discussing restructuring the balance sheet to get liabilities in line with conditions that have lately hindered the automotive industry at large.

Earlier this year, Cooper-Standard had announced job cuts and operational changes, which were designed to ease debts.  However, the ratings agency Standard & Poor's had warned the company that it could be heading for bankruptcy.

The company listed its liabilities, which included $313 million worth of senior subordinated debt that is due in 2014 and $200 million worth of senior notes due in 2012.  The company filed bankruptcy paperwork in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware today.  At this time, the company is being represented by the law firms of Fried, Frank, Harris Shriver & Jacobson and Richards Layton & Finger.  The company has also employed financial advisers from Alvarez & Marsal and Lazard Freres & Co.

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