Vertex Energy emerges from Chapter 11 as private company, appoints new CEO
Vertex Energy Inc. will operate as a privately held company now that it has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and completed its financial restructuring.
The specialty refiner and marketer of refined products operates under the ownership of certain of Vertex’s lenders, including funds managed by BlackRock Financial Management Inc., Highbridge Capital Management LLC, Whitebox Advisors LLC, and CrowdOut Capital LLC.
Under the terms of the Chapter 11 plan confirmed by the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Vertex exited bankruptcy with a commitment of up to $100 million in exit financing, including $40 million of initial borrowings upon emergence. With the restructuring, the company decreased about $320 million of prepetition debt.
The company is now under new leadership. Mark Smith was appointed as the company’s chief executive officer. Prior to joining Vertex, Smith served as chief executive officer of Philadelphia Energy Solutions Inc. and as president of Western Refining Inc.
Renewable to conventional
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2024 after spending on equipment to produce biofuels and incurring economic losses in the first half of that year.
In October, the company returned a previously converted renewable diesel hydrocracker to its original conventional service at subsidiary Vertex Refining Alabama LLC’s 75,000-b/d refining and petrochemical complex in Mobile, Ala. (OGJ Online, Oct. 9, 2024).
Restarted as of Oct. 9, the reconverted unit once again processed traditional vacuum gas oil to produce initial volumes of “higher-value refined products, including [conventional] gasoline and diesel” for fourth-quarter 2024, Vertex said at the time.
Mikaila Adams | Managing Editor - News
Mikaila Adams has 20 years of experience as an editor, most of which has been centered on the oil and gas industry. She enjoyed 12 years focused on the business/finance side of the industry as an editor for Oil & Gas Journal's sister publication, Oil & Gas Financial Journal (OGFJ). After OGFJ ceased publication in 2017, she joined Oil & Gas Journal and was named Managing Editor - News in 2019. She holds a degree from Texas Tech University.