Bankrupt units of a Mexican and Colombian payroll lender have secured court approval to access part of a $45 million loan to fund operations during their chapter 11 case after agreeing to install a chief restructuring officer, Reuters reported. During a virtual hearing on Wednesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kate Stickles in Wilmington, Del., signed off on Alpha Latam Management LLC's request to tap $17.5 million of the full loan. A hearing on the rest of the loan will be held at a later date. ALM is an affiliate of Mexico’s Alpha Holding SA de CV, which is not part of the chapter 11 case. ALM and certain affiliates, which control Alpha's Colombian operations, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday with $768 million in debt following accounting errors that caused creditors to declare defaults. The bankruptcy loan is being provided by existing noteholders. Judge Stickles’ approval followed an initial hearing on Tuesday in which the noteholders, represented by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, said ALM must bring in an independent chief restructuring officer to guide the bankruptcy and sale process before they would commit to the loan. The last-minute demand threatened to scuttle the loan deal, but the parties reached an agreement by Wednesday.
