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First Brands Finds Buyer for Horizon Unit; STG Wins Bankruptcy Plan Approval
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Good day and welcome to WSJ Pro Bankruptcy's Daily Briefing. It's Wednesday, May 20. In today's briefing, bankrupt auto-parts supplier First Brands has agreed to sell its Horizon towing and trailering equipment division to affiliates of billionaire Shahid Khan’s Flex-N-Gate for $64 million. And STG Logistics won court approval for its restructuring plan, cutting roughly $1 billion in debt, handing ownership to a creditor group led by Fortress Investment Group.
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Auto-parts supplier First Brands filed for Chapter 11 last September. Photo: Nick Oxford/Bloomberg News
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First Brands Finds Buyer for Horizon Unit
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Bankrupt auto-parts supplier First Brands has agreed to sell the North American operations of its towing and trailering equipment brand Horizon for $64 million.
Auto-parts supplier Flex-N-Gate’s affiliates have agreed to acquire Horizon, which First Brands acquired in 2023.
Flex-N-Gate has long been owned by billionaire Shahid Khan, who also owns the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham FC. First Brands’ largest OEM customer Ford made a proposal that served as a basis for negotiations on the deal.
The deal comes a week after First Brands won court approval to sell its Toledo Mining & Die business to an affiliate of auto-parts company JVIS for $80 million.
–Alicia McElhaney
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Logistics-service provider STG Logistics aims to emerge from bankruptcy after exchanging some of its debt held by its top lenders for equity. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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STG Logistics Wins Bankruptcy Plan Approval, Cuts $1 Billion in Debt
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A New Jersey judge granted STG Logistics restructuring plan approval Monday, wrapping up a contentious bankruptcy that pitted creditors against each other.
Under the approved plan, the logistics company will reduce its funded debt by roughly $1 billion. A group including Fortress Investment Group, Fidelity Investments and Invesco will take over the reorganized company and have agreed to provide $150 million in fresh capital.
In late April, STG reached a settlement with a pair of minority lenders to end litigation over a 2024 liability management deal the lenders said unfairly excluded them. STG filed for chapter 11 in January shortly after a state court judge allowed their lawsuit against the company to continue. STG agreed to pay the lenders, Axos Financial and Siemens Financial Services, $12 million in cash once the plan is confirmed.
The plan will become effective Friday. Kirkland & Ellis and Cole Schotz act as the legal counsel, AlixPartners as its financial and restructuring adviser, and PJT Partners as the investment banker.
–Alicia McElhaney
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Berkshire Hathaway Rekindles Its Tortured Love Affair With Airlines
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Berkshire Hathaway can’t seem to quit its love affair with airlines.
Warren Buffett had a tortured relationship with airline investments as the conglomerate’s long-running chief executive and stock picker. Now his successor, Greg Abel, is showing an early fondness for them, too, with Berkshire taking a new $2.6 billion position in Delta Air Lines during the first quarter.
The airline industry is going through its latest challenge, with a huge run-up in the price of jet fuel because of the war in Iran. Spirit Airlines shut down earlier this month after the jump in fuel prices derailed its plans to emerge from a second bankruptcy. But Delta has led the industry’s profits by focusing on affluent customers, and some investors are betting the carrier will increase its lead over rivals.
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Blue Owl Co-Founder Sells Stake in Washington Commanders
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One of the co-founders of private-credit behemoth Blue Owl Capital recently sold the last of his stake in the NFL’s Washington Commanders football team.
Doug Ostrover was among the individuals who cashed out their investments in the Commanders in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. Ostrover started selling much of his stake in 2025 and is currently liquidating the remaining piece, one of the people said.
The billionaire bought his share in 2023, when he joined a consortium led by private-equity titan Josh Harris to purchase the team. The group also included another Blue Owl co-founder, Marc Lipschultz, who hasn’t sold his stake, one of the people said.
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Private Equity’s Exit Drought Claims Its Latest Victim—the IRR Metric
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The internal rate of return, or IRR, has long reigned as private equity’s most popular performance measure, despite critics who fault its malleable nature. But the gauge is being eclipsed by another metric, not so much because of purported flaws but as a result of changes overtaking the industry.
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