Propane supplier Ferrellgas Partners LP has reached a prearranged deal with bondholders for the holding company with no employees to file for bankruptcy while keeping its operations out of chapter 11, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The proposed deal will allow the company’s employees, as well as chairman and interim chief executive James Ferrell, to retain ownership of operating company Ferrellgas LP. “We have a reached an agreement with a substantial majority of our noteholders that will preserve our almost 100-year-old history and maintain ownership by our nearly 5,000 global employees,” Ferrell said. The parent company, Ferrellgas Partners, plans to file for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., the company said in a regulatory filing Friday. Under a pre-packaged bankruptcy plan, the company will convert over $350 million in notes at the parent company into ownership units. Ferrellgas has been in forbearance since the summer on the $350 million in parent company notes that came due on June 15, and holders of 74 percent of those notes have agreed to the deal under which the parent company will file for bankruptcy.
