Strike unsecured creditors say bid procedures unfairly benefit AIP

By Sarah Lizee

Olympia, Wash., Dec. 22 – Strike, LLC’s official committee of unsecured creditors filed a limited objection on Tuesday to the company’s bid procedures for substantially all of its assets, saying they unfairly benefit American Industrial Partners (AIP) and chill the bidding process, according to a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

The committee said that, if approved, the bid procedures would result in an “extraordinarily expedited” sale process, mostly dictated by the milestones imposed on the debtors by the debtor-in-possession facility lender and stalking horse bidder, AIP.

The group said it has determined to not object to the sale process as a whole but filed a limited objection instead to begin to remedy its preliminary concerns with AIP’s overall approach to the cases, and to request that the court condition approval of the bid procedures on certain changes being made that are designed to make the sale process more competitive, fair and unbiased.

The committee said that the sale process should be extended by two and a half weeks, in order to provide potential bidders with a modest period of time after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays to complete their diligence and compile a qualified bid.

The group also said that AIP should not be given the unqualified right to credit bid at the outset of the cases and prior to the committee having conducted an appropriate investigation into the claims and liens of the debtors’ prepetition secured lenders generally and AIP specifically.

The committee also said that the proposed bid procedures order should not authorize the debtors’ entry into the stalking horse agreement because it could signal to potential bidders that the proposed sale to AIP has been “blessed” preemptively by the court and all provisions have been approved.

Strike is based in The Woodlands, Tex., and is a full-service pipeline, facilities and energy infrastructure solutions provider. The company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 6 under case number 21-90054.

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