TransCare Corp., a private ambulance company controlled by private-equity queen Lynn Tilton, filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, halting its operations in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. The company and 10 affiliates, all controlled by Tilton's Patriarch Partners, filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy, placing the companies in the hands of a court-appointed trustee. A Patriarch affiliate acquired TransCare out of bankruptcy in 2003. Last summer, the company announced a five-year, $130 million extension of its paratransit services contract with New York City. At the time, TransCare touted the "confidence shown by our lenders" that underscored "the progress that TransCare has made in our financial turnaround and resultant profitability." But that confidence appears to have ended Wednesday. TransCare said on Wednesday that it was forced into bankruptcy when a senior lender abruptly cut off its access to funding. In its bankruptcy filing, the company listed total assets between $10 million and $50 million and debts between $50 million and $100 million.
