Davis Polk is advising an ad hoc group of secured lenders to Speedcast International Limited in connection with Speedcast’s chapter 11 restructuring and debtor-in-possession credit facility.

On April 23, 2020, Speedcast and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary chapter 11 petitions in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. The filing, which was one of the first large-scale chapter 11 filings prepared on an entirely remote basis was made even more complex by the multinational nature of Speedcast’s business and the fact that the debtors spanned a total of 13 countries. In connection with Speedcast’s restructuring, members of the ad hoc group, along with certain other lenders, are providing debtor-in-possession financing consisting of $90 million of new-money term loans and a $90 million roll-up of prepetition loans. Notably, Speedcast is one of the only cases in which a roll-up of prepetition loans was approved on the first day of the case. 

Speedcast, based in Sydney, Australia, is the largest provider of remote and offshore satellite communications and information technology services in the world. Speedcast’s fully-managed service is delivered to more than 2,000 customers in 140 countries via a leading global, multi-access technology, multi-band and multi-orbit satellite network and an interconnecting global terrestrial network, bolstered by on-the-ground local support in more than 40 countries. Speedcast services customers in numerous sectors, including cruise, commercial maritime, energy and government.

The Davis Polk restructuring team includes partner Damian S. Schaible, counsel Jon Finelli and associates David Schiff, Jonah A. Peppiatt and Jarret Erickson. The finance team includes partners Meyer C. Dworkin and Hilary Dengel and associates Jason Palios and Ahmad Raja. The corporate team includes partner Brian Wolfe. Members of the Davis Polk team are located in the New York and Washington DC offices.

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