Joerns Healthcare LLC, a medical equipment maker whose owners include private-equity firms Quad-C Management Inc. and Aurora Capital Partners, sought bankruptcy protection with a reorganization plan that would reduce its debt to $80 million from $400 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The chapter 11 proceedings, which began on Monday, would convert into equity most of the company’s first-lien loans and all of its second-lien bonds, according to court papers in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Joerns makes medical-bed frames, therapeutic-support surfaces, patient lifts, wound-therapy devices and other durable medical equipment and supplies under brands that include Hoyer. Chief Financial Officer John Regan said in court papers that Joerns faced a number of challenges, including the extent to which its customers’ financial troubles had begun hurting its own liquidity.
