Pliant Corporation completes plan of reorganization

On July 18, 2006, Pliant Corporation, a leading manufacturer of value-added films and flexible packaging for food, medical and industrial applications, successfully completed a plan of reorganization less than seven months after Pliant and ten of its subsidiaries filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Code. The restructuring involved, among other things, a syndicated secured 'exit' financing for the purpose of compromising a Note issue, refinancing Pliant's pre-filing and Debtor-in-Possession loans and providing for its future working capital requirements. The exit financing facilities, with a combined maximum exposure of US$200 million, consisted of a revolving working capital credit facility and a revolving fixed asset-based credit facility both provided by Merrill Lynch Bank USA. With respect to the pre-filing and exit financing credit facilities, the Pliant Group was represented in Canada by Fasken Martineau, with a team in Toronto led by Andrew Laidlaw (banking), Mark Stinson (corporate) and Paul King (real property) and a team in Vancouver led by Don Weaver (banking).