AMERICAS DISTRESS DAILY: First Brands Files Bankruptcy Case

First Brands files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing liabilities between $10 billion and $50 billion, and assets between $1 billion and $10 billion. The move follows weeks of turmoil sparked by creditor concern over the auto-supplier’s use of opaque off-balance sheet financing.

• A group of creditors is set to provide the company with $1.1 billion in debtor-in-possession financing to keep operations running.
• The collapse of First Brands plays into longstanding concerns about companies’ usage of supply-chain financing to create debt that often remains off balance-sheet.

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