New York: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. helped YRC Worldwide Inc. complete a debt swap to avert bankruptcy after the Teamsters union said the bank was trying to profit from a failure of the largest US trucker by sales.
A group consisting of Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank AG, Aristeia Capital LLC, Silverback Asset Management and a Smith Management LLC unit, "got us over the goal line by going into the market, buying bonds and tendering them," YRC Chief Executive Officer Bill Zollars said.
YRC extended the deadline for the bond exchange six times in December as it sought to overcome resistance from bondholders owning derivatives that would pay out if the company defaulted.
YRC, which has posted $1.7 billion (Dh6.25 billion) in losses in the past five quarters, needed to complete the exchange by December 31 to avoid a bank payment that would have left the trucker in an "unsustainable" position, the Overland Park, Kansas-based company said in a regulatory filing two weeks ago.
Making history
International Brotherhood of Teamsters President James Hoffa said in letters last month to regulators and lawmakers that Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank were among banks that "have a history of making markets in these types of derivative financial products."
Goldman Sachs spokesman Michael DuVally said on December 17 that the bank was "actively exploring ways to help" YRC.
Bondholders with 70 per cent of YRC's $150 million of 8.5 per cent notes due in April offered to tender, meeting the required threshold, the company said.
