First Brands Loan Hits 30 Cents as Fresh Rescue Seen as Critical

Days after First Brands Group collapsed into bankruptcy, Marathon Asset Management founder Bruce Richards laid out a plain case for a rescue loan: “Great company, bad balance sheet.”

Two months later, Marathon and others that provided the auto-parts supplier with $1.1 billion are seeing the super-senior debt crater at a speed that bankruptcy experts say is virtually unprecedented.

And as the loan plunged from 100 cents on the dollar to as low as 30 cents on Wednesday, the finger-pointing has been swift. It’s also left some fretting about the urgent need for new money.

Fram oil filters.

Photographer: George Frey/Bloomberg

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