Jarden Corporation has reached an agreement to settle all of its outstanding claims against Lehman Brothers related to the bankruptcy of Lehman and related entities and the subsequent defaults of Lehman Commercial Paper Inc., an affiliate of Lehman Brothers, as agent and revolving lender under Jarden's Senior Credit Facility.
As part of the settlement, Jarden completed an amendment to the credit facility to replace Lehman Commercial Paper Inc. with Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch as Administrative Agent. Additionally, Deutsche Bank will replace Lehman in all of its other administrative capacities under the credit facility.
The settlement and amendment include repayment of Lehman's outstanding revolving credit loans to Jarden in an amount mutually agreed upon by Lehman and Jarden, termination of Lehman's commitment to make additional loans, and a mutual release of all claims related to the credit agreement and certain defaults by an affiliate of Lehman. The settlement has been approved by the Bankruptcy Court overseeing Lehman's bankruptcy filing. Lehman accounted for less than 10% of the company's total availability under its revolving credit facility.
Martin E. Franklin, Chairman and CEO of Jarden Corporation said, “We are happy to put the distraction of Lehman's bankruptcy behind us and we look forward to our new expanded relationship with Deutsche Bank. In this tough economic environment it is a satisfying reflection on Jarden's strength and steadiness that we received unanimous approval for the bank amendment from participants in our revolving credit facility. Jarden's liquidity position continues to be strong, and we remain focused on maintaining a conservative fiscal position while executing our long-term growth strategy.”
