Auto parts maker Transtar Holding Co. filed for bankruptcy Sunday after reaching a deal with its senior lenders to swap their debt for ownership of the company, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The company filed for chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York with a pre-packaged chapter 11 plan after garnering support from its creditors to support the restructuring proposal. The plan calls for the senior lenders, led by Silver Point Capital, to swap about $425 million in debt for 100 percent of the equity in the reorganized company. Joseph Santangelo, Transtar’s chief financial officer, blamed the company’s chapter 11 filing on the “higher than anticipated difficulty” of integrating its newly-acquired ETX’s business, an aftermarket transmission parts maker, into the company.
