Court Approves Fleetwood Plan and Disclosure Statement

On April 27, 2010, the Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California approved the Second Amended Disclosure Statement in the Fleetwood Enterprises reorganization. The Disclosure Statement describes the proposed plan of reorganization (the “Plan”) which represents a broad settlement of the major disputes involving certain key creditor constituents, including secured lenders, noteholders and trade claimants. The Plan contemplates the distribution of the proceeds of the liquidation of Fleetwood’s assets and the resolution of outstanding claims through a liquidating trust. FocalPoint Partners, investment banker to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, played an active role throughout the reorganization and was a key player in the negotiation of the settlement.

Fleetwood filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code on March 9, 2009. Prior to its petition, Fleetwood was among the nation’s leading producers of manufactured housing and recreational vehicles. Fleetwood had approximately 3,700 people located in 19 manufacturing facilities in 11 states. Despite prepetition attempts to cut costs, restructure business operations, and address cash short falls from operations to improve liquidity, and given the ongoing dislocation of the capital markets, economic decline and weakness in both the recreational vehicle and manufacturing housing markets, the measures taken by Fleetwood to cut costs and restructure their business operations were ineffective in addressing its financial challenges. As a result, Fleetwood was forced to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

After considering a number of alternatives, Fleetwood, its creditors and their advisors agreed that selling Fleetwood’s individual business units would be the best approach to maximize value for all constituents, including FocalPoint’s constituency of unsecured creditors. To that end, Fleetwood’s military housing division was sold to Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary Clayton Homes; its motor homes division was sold to the private equity firm American Industrial Partners; and its manufactured housing division was sold to Cavco Industries.

Following the sale of Fleetwood’s business units, FocalPoint and other key advisors and constituents began work to resolve the remaining major disputes, including the distribution of proceeds. After several months of negotiations, a settlement was reached involving certain key creditor constituents, the details of which are reflected in the Disclosure Statement recently approved by the Court. A confirmation hearing on the Plan is tentatively scheduled for June 9, 2010. The Plan will become effective shortly after confirmation by the Court.

About FocalPoint
FocalPoint is an independent investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions, private placements (both debt and equity), financial restructurings and distressed transactions. The firm serves middle market clients throughout the U.S.

Please contact Alex Stevenson at 310-405-7000 with any questions about this transaction.

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