By Joseph Checkler Of DOW JONES DAILY BANKRUPTCY REVIEW NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- A judge on Thursday confirmed General Maritime Corp.'s (GMRRQ) plan to exit bankruptcy controlled by private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management LP, the company's top lender before its Chapter 11 filing. Judge Martin Glenn of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan said he would confirm the proposal, which was tweaked in March to satisfy the objections of unsecured creditors who previously thought they were being treated unfairly. The judge overruled objections from one holder of senior notes and a group of shareholders. No major creditors objected to the plan at Thursday's hearing. "The court concludes that the plan is feasible and has a reasonable likelihood of success," Glenn said in approving it. The linchpin of the proposal calls for Oaktree, owed more than $200 million at the time of General Maritime's November Chapter 11 filing, to make a $175 million equity investment in the company in exchange for nearly all of the reorganized shipping company's stock. The proposal will slash General Maritime's prebankruptcy debt by more than 40%. In court on Thursday, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP's Douglas H. Mannal, a General Maritime lawyer, said General Maritime would soon ask the court to approve the sale of one of its vessels, the Alexandra, which should raise an additional $6 million to $8 million and help the company pay down its $75 million debtor-in-possession, or DIP, loan. General Maritime and its official committee of unsecured creditors will discuss that sale, and Glenn said his approval of the plan is contingent on an agreement over the sale. That minor piece of news was the only semblance of surprise at Thursday's hearing, an outcome that seemed unlikely less than two months ago as creditors fought with Oaktree and planned for a protracted, multiday confirmation hearing. The company's unsecured creditors as recently as late March were set to recover between 0.75% and 1.88% of what they were owed. Now, they're set to recover about 5.41% of what they're owed, and a lawyer representing them voiced support for the plan Thursday. At a February hearing, unsecured creditors raised myriad issues with the proposal, including a provision that called for Oaktree to get 100% of a reorganized General Maritime's equity. That version of the proposal would have paid unsecured creditors $6 million, including participation in a $61.25 million rights offering, as well as warrants to purchase up to 2.5% more of the equity. But after negotiating with creditors, General Maritime scrapped the rights offering, and unsecured creditors, including a key group that owns more than $310 million in notes, will get 2% of the reorganized General Maritime's equity and warrants to purchase up to 3% more of the equity in addition to the $6 million in cash. Mannal said Thursday that 97% of General Maritime's unsecured creditors that voted on the plan voted yes. General Maritime filed for Chapter 11 protection in November with $1.4 billion in debt after struggling in the wake of waning demand for its global marine shipping services. Its proposal would slash the debt by about $600 million. The shipper's fleet of about 30 vessels travels to about 230 ports of call in more than 70 countries. Its ships transport crude oil and refined petroleum products, and its biggest customers include BP PLC (BP), Chevron Corp. (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM). (Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review covers news about distressed companies and those under bankruptcy protection.) --By Joseph Checkler, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2152; joseph.checkler@dowjones.com
