GT Advanced Technologies Inc. has lined up $80 million worth of financing to help it get out of a bankruptcy after its messy breakup with Apple Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported today. The equipment manufacturer was enlisted to supply sapphire screen material for Apple on a large scale, but the smartphone maker spurned GT’s offering, leaving it mired in debt. GT Advanced’s stint in chapter 11 protection began in October 2014, amid a fight with Apple that ended in a settlement. Since then, the company has struggled to return to its mission as a maker of industrial equipment and to find a way out of bankruptcy. The company’s existing lenders are offering bankruptcy-exit financing including $60 million in new debt and $20 million in preferred stock. The financing carries a 5 percent fee and other costs and calls for GT to file a chapter 11 exit plan by Dec. 21. The plan must be implemented in the first quarter of 2016.
