CWT Recapitalization Plan Reduces Debt, Adds New Equity Infusion

Hit hard by the downturn of corporate travel amid the Covid-19 pandemic, CWT has entered a recapitalization plan that will bring down its debt load by nearly $900 million and provide nearly $350 million in new equity financing, the travel management giant said on Wednesday.

Subject to formal approval by its financial stakeholders, the plan would replace CWT’s existing $1.5 billion debt burden with a new first lien debt of $625 million and a new undrawn revolving credit facility, according to the company. 

As part of the restructuring, CWT bondholders will swap debt holdings for ownership stakes in CWT, resulting in an infusion of nearly $350 million in new equity capital, CWT CEO Michelle McKinney Frymire told BTN sister publication The Beat. Those debt-to-equity swaps would result in Carlson Holdings no longer controlling a majority of CWT. Instead, ownership would be distributed among entities including Barings and MacKay Shield, with no single entity controlling more than a 50 percent stake, McKinney Frymire said. 

CWT expects stakeholders to formally approve the deal this year. 

CWT recently named Bill Courtney as permanent chief financial officer, replacing McKinney Frymire, who vacated that role to become company CEO in May.