Aspect Software announces court approval of plan to deleverage its balance sheet, reducing long-term debt by 40%
• Aspect expects to emerge from the Court process imminently
• Transaction will facilitate growth, product innovation and ongoing pivot towards becoming industry’s leading provider of cloud-based contact centre, self-service and workforce optimisation solution
• The newly-refinanced Aspect boasts the industry’s most comprehensive and dynamic product and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) portfolio
Aspect Software have announced that its strategic action to facilitate its long-term growth, product innovation and ongoing pivot towards becoming the industry’s leading cloud-based provider has been approved by the court. In March, the company entered into a pre-arranged agreement with certain unaffiliated holders of Aspect’s debt obligations to ready the company for a financial restructuring and replacement of its existing credit facilities. The pre-arranged agreement, which was approved by the court today, results in the reduction of more than $320 million of indebtedness, new secured financing and an infusion of fresh convertible debt capital to facilitate growth. Aspect expects to formally emerge from the restructuring process imminently after completing normal administrative processes.
Stew Bloom, Aspect’s Chairman and CEO said,
“The court’s approval marks a major milestone in the multi-year transformation of Aspect’s business, through which we have evolved from a legacy technology company that sold a limited set of on-premises contact centre software, to a contemporary and comprehensive provider of contact centre and workforce optimisation solutions in the cloud,”.
“The expeditious completion of this transaction facilitates a new runway for accelerated growth as we begin executing on the next phase of the company’s long-term strategic vision.”
During Aspect’s transformation, the company invested $160M in acquisitions, technology agreements and partnerships that have resulted in the industry’s most comprehensive product portfolio. Aspect has a strong income statement with over $400M in revenue, $300M of which is recurring, and strong EBITDA performance. Moreover, the company maintains $100M in Cloud revenue backlog, driven in part by new year-over-year bookings growth of over 20% in 2015.
Bloom added, “The increased liquidity that results from this transaction will facilitate investments in R&D, cloud infrastructure and the launch of the market’s first true Customer Engagement Centre in the cloud, Aspect Via.”
To consummate the pre-arranged agreement, Aspect and certain of its affiliates commenced voluntary cases under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the District of Delaware on March 8, 2016. The arrangement was principally led by certain affiliates and funds of GSO Capital, a unit of The Blackstone Group, Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, LLC, and MidOcean Credit Partners. GSO Capital Partners LP is the global credit investment platform of Blackstone, one of the world’s leading investment firms with $330B in assets under management. Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, LLC is an affiliate of Guggenheim Partners, a global investment and advisory firm. MidOcean Credit Partners is a multi-billion alternative credit manager and is affiliated with MidOcean Partners, a New York based private equity firm.
Aspect’s advisors with respect to the restructuring were Kirkland & Ellis (as restructuring counsel), Jefferies LLC (as investment banker), and Alix Partners LLP (as restructuring advisor).
Additional Information
For additional information about Aspect Software visit their Website or view their Company Profile
