Evidence records

documentedFirst Brands Group, LLC's voluntary Chapter 11 petition (Official Form 201) gives its federal employer identification number as 46-2872032, lists Crowne Automotive Aftermarket, LLC and Trico Group, LLC as other names used in the previous eight years, states its principal place of business as 127 Public Square, Suite 5300, Cleveland, Ohio 44114 and its website as firstbrandsgroup.com, and classifies its business under NAICS code 5511, management of companies and enterprises. ¹

documentedFirst Brands Group, LLC is a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business in Cleveland, Ohio. Its Legal Entity Identifier record at GLEIF names the Delaware Division of Corporations as registration authority with entity number 5304130, gives the legal form as a limited liability company, records the entity as created on May 14, 2013 and shows the entity status as active. ^{2 3 4}

documentedFirst Brands Group, LLC holds the Legal Entity Identifier 2549005IXRZR7KSBJD91, first registered on December 17, 2021. GLEIF lists the registration as lapsed: the record was last updated on October 18, 2025 and was due for renewal the same day. The LEI record gives the legal address as c/o Registered Agent Solutions, Inc., 838 Walker Road, Suite 21-2, Dover, Delaware 19904 and the headquarters as 127 Public Square, Suite 5300, Cleveland, Ohio 44114. A GLEIF full-text search for "First Brands Group" published on October 15, 2026 returned only this record. ^{3 4}

documentedA third-party copy of the Delaware register lists entity number 5304130 under the name Trico Group, LLC, one of the former names given in the petition, with The Corporation Trust Company in Wilmington as registered agent. The same copy shows foreign (branch) registrations of First Brands Group, LLC in Michigan under number 802159536 and in Ohio under number 4132192. ⁷

qualification

The register copy is an undated third-party snapshot that does not show the formation date or status; the later GLEIF record names Registered Agent Solutions, Inc. as the address of the legal seat.

documentedIn the January 2023 tender offer for Horizon Global, First Brands Group, LLC described itself as a global automotive parts company selling through brands including Raybestos brakes, Centric Parts brake components, FRAM and Luber-finer filtration products, TRICO and ANCO wiper blades, Carter fuel and water pumps, Autolite spark plugs, StrongArm lift supports and StopTech performance brakes, with its office at 127 Public Square, Suite 5300, Cleveland, Ohio. ⁵

documentedAccording to the debtors' first-day declaration, the group's brands fall into four product categories. By the company's estimates for the preceding twelve months, braking products such as Raybestos, Centric Parts, StopTech and Cardone accounted for about 33% of revenue; filtration products such as Luber Finer, PetroClear, Jasper Rubber Products and FRAM about 14%; vision and lighting products such as ANCO, Trico, Narva, Philips and Michelin about 29%; and repair and towing products such as Airtex, AutoLite, Carter Fuel Pumps, Reese and StrongArm about 24%. ⁶

documentedThe first-day declaration states that, as of the petition date, the group employed about 26,000 people across five continents, about 6,000 of them employed by the debtors in the United States. About 75% of revenue came from products sourced in North America and 25% from products sourced elsewhere. The company operated two distribution centers and 36 factories in Mexico, where about 14,000 employees were based and from where 57% of its U.S. sales volume was sourced. ⁶

documentedThe first-day declaration states that, by the company's estimates for the preceding twelve months, about 82% of revenue came from aftermarket parts, 13% from sales to original equipment manufacturers and about 5% from specialty and industrial customers. Aftermarket customers included large automotive retailers such as Advance Auto Parts, AutoZone, O'Reilly and NAPA Auto Parts, wholesale distributors and national retailers including Walmart, Costco and Amazon; the top ten customers accounted for less than half of total net sales over the previous three years. ⁶

documentedFirst Brands Group, LLC's press release of October 13, 2025 announcing a leadership transition was issued with a Rochester Hills, Michigan dateline and described the company as a leading global supplier of aftermarket automotive parts; the Chapter 11 petition gives its principal place of business as 127 Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio. ⁹

documentedThe list of affiliated debtors attached to First Brands Group, LLC's Chapter 11 petition of September 28, 2025 includes Champion Laboratories, Inc. (EIN 37-0995645), Autolite Operations LLC (EIN 80-0697550), Carter Fuel Systems, LLC (EIN 46-2883328), Walbro LLC (EIN 38-2968944) together with Walbro Midco LLC and WEM US Co., and Toledo Molding & Die, LLC (EIN 34-1612053). Under the ownership statement, First Brands Group Holdings, LLC owns, directly or indirectly, 100% of every debtor outside the Viceroy group. ¹

documentedThe same list of affiliated debtors includes Brake Parts Inc LLC (EIN 06-1248287), Cardone Industries, Inc. (EIN 23-3000982), Dalton Corporation (EIN 35-0259770), Qualitor Automotive, LLC (EIN 27-4496580), Trico Products Corporation (EIN 16-0665680), Pylon Manufacturing Corp. (EIN 59-1548344) with Pylon South Bend, Inc., and Hopkins Manufacturing Corporation (EIN 48-0575295) with Carrand Companies, Inc., Jasper Rubber Products, Inc. and ASC Industries, Inc.; as debtors outside the Viceroy group they are owned, directly or indirectly, 100% by First Brands Group Holdings, LLC. ¹

documentedUCI International, LLC (EIN 16-1760186) appears on the affiliated-debtor list of First Brands Group, LLC's petition together with UCI International Holdings Parent Inc. and UCI International Holdings, Inc.; like the other debtors outside the Viceroy group it is owned, directly or indirectly, 100% by First Brands Group Holdings, LLC. ¹

documentedFive Horizon Global companies are among the affiliated debtors listed with First Brands Group, LLC's petition: Horizon Global Corporation (EIN 47-3574483), Horizon Global Company LLC (EIN 47-3578964), Horizon Global Americas Inc. (EIN 38-2935446), Horizon International Holdings LLC and Horizon Euro Finance LLC. The court docket shows their cases, Nos. 25-90414 to 25-90418, opened on September 29, 2025 and jointly administered under case No. 25-90399; as debtors outside the Viceroy group they are owned, directly or indirectly, 100% by First Brands Group Holdings, LLC. ^{1 10}

qualification

The affiliated-debtor list dates the petitions September 28, 2025, while the docket shows the Horizon cases opened on September 29, 2025.

documentedThe court docket records the cases of further subsidiaries as jointly administered under the First Brands Group, LLC case No. 25-90399, including FRAMAuto Holdings, LLC (No. 25-90401), Autolite Operations LLC (No. 25-90402), FRAM Group Operations LLC (No. 25-90403), FRAM Group IP LLC (No. 25-90404), Champion Laboratories, Inc. (No. 25-90445), Trico Products Corporation (No. 25-90472), Trico Holding Corporation (No. 25-90476), Brake Parts Inc LLC (No. 25-90477), Dalton Corporation (No. 25-90492) and Cardone Industries, Inc. (No. 25-90493). ¹⁰

documentedThe special purpose vehicles filed first: the docket records Chapter 11 cases opened on September 24, 2025 for Global Assets LLC (No. 25-90383), Global Lease Assets Holdings, LLC, Carnaby Capital Holdings, LLC (No. 25-90385), Broad Street Financial Holdings, LLC (No. 25-90386), Broad Street Financial, LLC (No. 25-90387), Carnaby Inventory II, LLC (No. 25-90388), Carnaby Inventory III, LLC (No. 25-90390), Patterson Inventory, LLC (No. 25-90392, the lead case for the Patterson and Starlight entities) and Starlight Inventory I, LLC (No. 25-90394). ^{10 6}

documentedThe docket lists the debtors at one common address, 127 Public Square, Suite 5300, Cleveland, Ohio 44114, including operating companies such as Cardone Industries, Inc. and Carrand Companies, Inc. as well as the special purpose vehicles Carnaby Capital Holdings, LLC, Carnaby FA, LLC, Carnaby Inventory II, LLC, Carnaby Inventory III, LLC and Carnaby Inventory IV, LLC and their holding companies. ¹⁰

qualification

A shared mailing address in the case records reflects the group's common administration; it does not by itself show ownership or control.

documentedPatrick James signed the omnibus consent authorizing the group's Chapter 11 filings as the Manager of 47 limited liability companies of the group, among them Autolite Operations LLC, FRAM Group Operations LLC, Horizon Global Company LLC, Carter Fuel Systems, LLC, Qualitor Automotive, LLC, Brake Parts Inc LLC, UCI International, LLC, Walbro LLC, Eagle Machining, LLC, Toledo Molding & Die, LLC and the special purpose vehicles Carnaby Inventory IV, LLC and Carnaby FA, LLC, which belong to the Viceroy group. James signed as the sole director of 39 group corporations, among them Pylon Manufacturing Corp., Trico Products Corporation, Cardone Industries, Inc., Champion Laboratories, Inc., Hopkins Manufacturing Corporation, Horizon Global Corporation, Horizon Global Americas Inc. and Dalton Corporation, and with Shekhar Kumar as one of the two directors of two Dalton manufacturing-facility corporations. ¹

documentedFRAMAuto Holdings, LLC, also known as Oculus LLC (EIN 83-3423482, address 127 Public Square, Suite 5300, Cleveland), filed its own Chapter 11 case, No. 25-90401, on September 28, 2025; a docket summary records it as 100% owned by First Brands Group, LLC. ¹¹

documentedThe Florida Division of Corporations lists FRAM Group Operations LLC as a foreign Delaware limited liability company registered in Florida on April 4, 2011 (document M11000001713, FEI/EIN 80-0697545), with FRAMAuto Holdings, LLC of 127 Public Square, Suite 5300, Cleveland as its member and authorized person and Registered Agent Solutions, Inc. as registered agent. The Florida registration was revoked on September 25, 2026 for failure to file an annual report, the last one having been filed on March 26, 2025. ^{12 13}

documentedGLEIF records Horizon Global Corporation (LEI 549300D1ZZV3IWN54G85) as an active Delaware corporation, register number 5669036, created on January 14, 2015, with its legal address c/o Registered Agent Solutions, Inc. in Dover, Delaware and its headquarters at 2600 West Big Beaver Road, Suite 555, Troy, Michigan; the LEI registration is lapsed. GLEIF names Horizon Global Corporation as the direct parent of Horizon Global Company LLC. ¹⁴

documentedGLEIF records Horizon Global Company LLC (LEI 5493008GNLKFHQAI0W11) as an active Delaware limited liability company, register number 5712015, created on March 17, 2015, with its legal address c/o Registered Agent Solutions, Inc., 838 Walker Road, Suite 21-2, Dover, Delaware, its headquarters at 2600 West Big Beaver Road, Suite 555, Troy, Michigan, and a lapsed LEI registration last updated on July 2, 2026. ¹⁵

documentedGLEIF records Horizon Global Americas Inc. (LEI 549300SWUS8YENX2TM25), formerly Cequent Towing Products, Inc. and Cequent Performance Products, Inc., as an active Delaware corporation, register number 2231485, with headquarters at 47912 Halyard Drive, Suite 100, Plymouth, Michigan; its LEI registration lapsed and was last updated on August 4, 2023. ¹⁵

documentedGLEIF records Toledo Molding & Die, LLC (LEI 549300CKM8N9BJZCZG86), formerly Toledo Molding & Die, Inc., as an active Delaware limited liability company, register number 2189228, created on March 3, 1989, with its legal address c/o Registered Agent Solutions, Inc. in Dover, Delaware and headquarters at 1429 Coining Drive, Toledo, Ohio 43612; its LEI registration is lapsed. ¹⁶

documentedGLEIF records Brake Parts Inc LLC (LEI 5493007R3NKBCPN50M70) as an active Delaware limited liability company, register number 2172843, created on September 19, 1988, with its legal address c/o Registered Agent Solutions, Inc. in Dover, Delaware and its headquarters at 4400 Prime Parkway, McHenry, Illinois; the LEI registration was listed as issued when last updated on September 18, 2025. ¹⁷

documentedThe UK Companies House register lists Trico Investments Corporation, a U.S. company with registration number 45-0533786 and a correspondence address at 127 Public Square, Suite 5110, Cleveland, Ohio, as the only person with significant control of Trico Limited (company number 00234268), notified on April 6, 2016: it holds 75% or more of the shares and voting rights and the right to appoint or remove directors. ¹⁸

documentedAccording to the consolidated corporate ownership statement filed with the Chapter 11 petitions on September 28, 2025, Viceroy Private Capital, LLC (itself a debtor), Brake Parts Holdings, Inc. and Aztec Corporation (both non-debtors) own 66%, 33% and 1% respectively of the membership interests in First Brands Group Holdings, LLC. ^{1 2}

documentedThe same ownership statement says that the non-debtor Mayfair Enterprises, LLC owns 100% of the membership interests in Viceroy Private Capital, LLC, the holder of the 66% stake in First Brands Group Holdings, LLC. ¹

documentedThe debtors stated in the ownership statement that, to the best of their knowledge and belief, no corporation other than those it lists directly or indirectly owns 10% or more of the membership interests of any debtor. ¹

documentedBelow First Brands Group Holdings, LLC the chain runs through First Brands Group Intermediate, LLC: the ownership statement says Holdings owns, directly or indirectly, 100% of all debtors other than the Viceroy debtors, and the petition's list of equity holders names First Brands Group Intermediate, LLC, of 127 Public Square, Suite 5300, Cleveland, as the holder of 100% of the units of First Brands Group, LLC. A docket summary records that Intermediate is wholly owned by Holdings. ^{1 2}

documentedFirst Brands Group Intermediate, LLC was formerly named Trico Group Holdings, LLC. It is the parent party to the group's asset-based lending (ABL) credit agreement, under which First Brands Group, LLC is a borrower. ^{3 2}

documentedThe off-balance-sheet special purpose vehicles sit outside the First Brands Group, LLC chain. The ownership statement says Viceroy Private Capital, LLC owns, directly or indirectly, 100% of twenty debtors, including Broad Street Financial Holdings, LLC, Broad Street Financial, LLC, Carnaby Capital Holdings, LLC, Carnaby FA, LLC, Carnaby Inventory II, LLC, Carnaby Inventory III, LLC, Carnaby Inventory IV, LLC, Global Assets GmbH, Global Assets LLC, Patterson Inventory, LLC and Starlight Inventory I, LLC and their holding companies. The first-day declaration states that the obligors on the off-balance-sheet obligations are subsidiaries of Viceroy and Carnaby Capital Holdings, LLC and are not subsidiaries of First Brands Group, LLC. ^{3 1}

documentedThe debtors' first-day declaration states that the company's equity is owned 100% by its founder and sole equity holder, and that the 112 debtor entities are each 100% indirectly owned by the founder; the declaration refers to this person as "the Founder" without giving a name in these passages. ³

documentedIn their verified adversary complaint of November 3, 2025 the debtors state that Patrick James founded First Brands in 2013 and that the group, which spans five continents and comprises more than 100 entities, is entirely 100% indirectly owned by James. ⁴

documentedIn the tender offer document for Horizon Global filed with the SEC on January 9, 2023, First Brands Group, LLC disclosed that Patrick James was the sole owner of First Brands Group, LLC, listed James as its controlling person, a director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and stated that James had been a board member, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for more than five years. ^{5 6}

documentedIn a merger notification received by the European Commission on February 12, 2025 (case M.11892), the notifying parties stated that Global Technologies S.à r.l., a 100% subsidiary of Global Technologies Partners, LLC, would acquire sole control of Novares Group SAS, and that Global Technologies Partners, LLC is ultimately owned by Patrick James, who is also the ultimate owner of First Brands Group, LLC. ⁷

qualification

The description was prepared by the notifying parties under their sole responsibility; the Commission states that it does not prejudge its view of the transaction.

documentedIn a motion to dismiss the estate's adversary complaint dated December 15, 2025, counsel for Patrick James described First Brands Group Holdings, LLC as a Delaware limited liability company owned by Mr. James and argued that the complaint did not account for this structure. ⁸

qualification

The motion describes ownership without stating the intermediate holders; the debtors' ownership statement lists Viceroy Private Capital, Brake Parts Holdings and Aztec Corporation as the direct members of Holdings.

documentedAt a hearing in the adversary proceeding on November 10, 2025, the debtors' Chief Restructuring Officer Charles Moore testified that the group's more than 100 entities "eventually roll up to ownership by Mr. Patrick James" and, asked whether James was the sole owner of each of them, answered: "That's my understanding." ⁸

documentedThe GLEIF record of First Brands Group, LLC names no parent entity: for both its direct and its ultimate accounting consolidation parent it declares the reporting exception "NATURAL_PERSONS" instead. ¹⁰

documentedThe debtors' first-day declaration, executed on September 29, 2025, states that as of the petition date the debtors had approximately $6.1 billion of on-balance-sheet funded debt, held by First Brands Group Holdings, LLC and its debtor subsidiaries; approximately $2.3 billion of "off-balance sheet" financings incurred through special purpose vehicles and held by Viceroy Private Capital, LLC and its debtor subsidiaries; approximately $800 million of unsecured supply-chain-financing liabilities; and, in addition, approximately $2.3 billion of factoring liabilities. ³

documentedA third forbearance of June 30, 2025 restructured the Onset payment schedules to total payments of $1.9 billion, about $380 million more than was due before the first forbearance: $20 million by July 3, 2025 (paid), $570 million on August 29, 2025, monthly payments through August 20, 2026 and a $645 million balloon payment on August 31, 2026. In connection with it, Viceroy Private Capital, LLC pledged 15% of its membership interests in First Brands Group Holdings, LLC to Onset. After the $570 million payment was missed, Onset delivered a notice of default and acceleration on September 9, 2025. ³

documentedOn October 8, 2025 Judge Christopher Lopez entered a stipulation and agreed order between the First Brands debtors, founder Patrick James and the equity holders Mayfair Enterprises LLC, Aztec Corp. and Brake Parts Holdings Inc., under which James and the equity holders agreed to preserve the debtors' approximately $380 million of federal net operating loss carryforwards, part of which is subject to prior limitations, and not to take any action that could cause an ownership change. ⁹

qualification

Known from a report summarising the order; the order itself is not retained.

documentedMayfair Enterprises, LLC appears on the case docket as a creditor, represented by its own counsel. ¹¹

documentedThe first-day declaration of the Chief Restructuring Officer, filed in the Chapter 11 case on September 29, 2025, states that First Brands has boards of managers at each of four parent entities: First Brands Group Holdings, LLC, First Brands Group Intermediate, LLC, First Brands Group, LLC and Viceroy Private Capital, LLC. Each board consisted of Patrick James, Stephen Graham and Shekhar Kumar as managers and Neal Goldman and William Transier as independent managers. ³

documentedAccording to the debtors' first-day declaration, First Brands was formed in 2013 by its founder under the name Crowne Industrial Group. In 2013 and 2014 it acquired brands such as Carter Fuel Pumps and Trico, a maker of windshield wiper blades, and from 2019 it expanded further by acquiring a number of established brands, some of them decades or a century old, with the aim of becoming a leading supplier across the aftermarket parts industry. ¹

documentedAccording to the January 2023 tender offer document, Jefferies, acting for Horizon Global Corporation in its strategic review, contacted First Brands Group, LLC on July 28, 2022 about a possible transaction, and Horizon and First Brands executed a confidentiality agreement on July 29, 2022. The agreement, for a transaction code-named Project Phoenix, was addressed to Stephen Graham as Chief Financial Officer of First Brands Group, LLC and covered information furnished by the target group, including through its adviser Jefferies LLC. ^{4 5}

documentedFirst Brands Group, LLC's bid for Horizon Global changed during the negotiations: on November 1, 2022 it proposed $2.00 per share of common stock, based on an estimated total enterprise value of about $425 million at closing, and on December 27, 2022 it revised the offer to $1.75 per share, citing Horizon's financial situation and expected higher capital expenditure. Paul Hastings LLP acted as First Brands' legal counsel in negotiating the merger agreement. ⁵

documentedThe tender offer document states that since 2020 Jefferies had provided financing services to First Brands Group, LLC in five earlier transactions. Because Jefferies was also advising Horizon, Horizon's Strategic Alternatives Committee decided on November 12, 2022 that Jefferies could provide financing to First Brands if First Brands became the acquirer, and Horizon approved Jefferies' financing discussions with First Brands. ⁵

documentedThe tender offer for Horizon Global was made by PHX Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation incorporated on December 16, 2022 as a wholly owned subsidiary of First Brands Group, LLC and formed solely to complete the offer and merger. It offered $1.75 per share of common stock plus the redemption price for the Series B preferred stock, with the offer scheduled to expire just after 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on February 6, 2023. First Brands and the purchaser estimated the total funds needed for the offer, the merger and related fees at about $425 million, to be supplied by First Brands from cash on hand and available financing. ^{6 5}

documentedOn February 8, 2023, after the tender offer was completed, PHX Merger Sub, Inc. merged into Horizon Global Corporation, which survived as a wholly owned subsidiary of First Brands Group, LLC. The same day Horizon asked the New York Stock Exchange to halt and suspend trading in its common stock and to file for its delisting and deregistration. ⁷

documentedAccording to the March 26, 2026 declaration of the independent director of the Ultinon holding companies, First Brands (FBG) bought the Ultinon automotive-lighting business, until then part of the Lumileds group, from Lumileds Holding B.V. in August 2024 for about $238 million, subject to adjustments. The business makes lights for the aftermarket and for vehicle manufacturers at plants in Aachen (Germany), Pabianice (Poland) and Songzi (China), most recently held about 20% of the global automotive-lighting market, and had generated EBITDA of about $61 million in 2022 and $48 million in 2023. ^{8 9 10}

qualification

Other accounts date the transaction differently: a case summary lists a May 2024 sale announcement by Lumileds and July 2024 completion, and German legal press says First Brands took over the business in May 2024.

documentedThe declaration's debt table lists total debtor obligations of $9,295.4 million: ABL obligations of $596.3 million ($226.9 million of loans and letters of credit plus $369.4 million of ABL supply-chain-financing and cash-management obligations); term-loan obligations of $5,539.9 million (a $100 million first-lien letter-of-credit facility, first-lien term loans of $3,886.9 million in dollars and $763 million in euros, $250 million of side-car term loans and $540 million of second-lien term loans); off-balance-sheet SPV obligations of $2,346.8 million (Aequum facilities $77.8 million, CarVal facilities $159.0 million, Evolution facilities $230 million and the Onset lease $1,880 million); and $812.4 million of supply-chain-financing obligations. ¹

qualification

The table gives most balances as of June 30, 2025, and the Aequum, CarVal and Evolution balances as of July 31, 2025; the euro tranche is converted at 1.19 dollars per euro and the side-car amount excludes a make-whole premium of about $26 million.

documentedOn February 2, 2018 First Brands Group, LLC entered into an ABL Credit Agreement as lead borrower, with Trico Limited (England and Wales) and Trico Belgium SA as further borrowers, First Brands Group Intermediate, LLC (formerly Trico Group Holdings, LLC) as parent and Bank of America, N.A., as successor to Goldman Sachs Bank USA, as administrative and collateral agent. The asset-based senior secured revolving facility was originally up to $80 million, with total commitments of up to $250 million; at the petition date about $227 million was outstanding, comprising about $133 million of borrowings and about $93 million of undrawn letters of credit. Obligations are guaranteed by debtor affiliates and secured by a first-priority lien on the ABL Priority Collateral and a third-priority lien on the Term Priority Collateral. ^{1 2}

documentedOn February 2, 2018 First Brands Group, LLC, as borrower, and First Brands Group Intermediate, LLC, as parent, entered into a First Lien Term Loan Agreement whose administrative and collateral agent is Jefferies Finance LLC (successor to Credit Suisse AG, Cayman Island Branch, which had succeeded Goldman Sachs Bank USA). At the petition date term loans of $3,886.9 million and $763 million were outstanding, including a $24.5 million bridge loan that certain first-lien lenders provided on September 25, 2025 so that the debtors could meet payroll and other critical payments. The loans are guaranteed by the ABL/term-loan obligors and secured by a first-priority lien on the Term Priority Collateral and a second-priority lien on the ABL Priority Collateral. ^{1 2}

documentedOn February 26, 2019 First Brands Group, LLC, as borrower, and First Brands Group Intermediate, LLC, as parent, entered into a Second Lien Term Loan Agreement with Jefferies Finance LLC (as successor to Credit Suisse AG, Cayman Island Branch) as administrative and collateral agent. Second-lien term loans of $540 million were outstanding at the petition date, guaranteed by the other ABL/term-loan obligors and secured by a third-priority lien on the ABL Priority Collateral and a second-priority lien on the Term Priority Collateral. ¹

documentedOn June 16, 2025 First Brands Group, LLC, as borrower, and First Brands Group Intermediate, LLC, as parent, entered into a side-car first-lien term loan agreement with Sagard Holdings Manager (US) LLC as Sagard administrative agent and GLAS USA LLC as GLAS administrative agent and collateral agent; $250 million of term loans were extended that day. After the company failed to make an interest payment due on September 16, 2025, the side-car lenders accelerated the loan on September 24, 2025, including a make-whole premium of about $26 million, so that about $276 million was outstanding at the petition date. The loan is secured by a first-priority lien on the Term Priority Collateral and a second-priority lien on the ABL Priority Collateral, and a side letter restricted new-money borrowing without the side-car lenders' consent. ¹

documentedThe first-day declaration divides the collateral of the FBG debtors into ABL Priority Collateral, including accounts, inventory, payment intangibles and deposit and securities accounts, on which the ABL secured parties rank first, and Term Priority Collateral, including equipment and real property, intellectual property and equity interests, on which the first-lien, side-car and second-lien secured parties rank ahead. The rights of these groups are set out in an Amended and Restated Intercreditor Agreement dated February 26, 2019, and the DIP credit agreement refers to an Amended and Restated ABL Intercreditor Agreement among the first-lien collateral agent, the ABL agent, the second-lien administrative agent and the loan parties. ^{2 1}

documentedThe Companies House charges register for Trico Limited (company number 00234268) records 16 charges, 3 outstanding and 13 satisfied. The three outstanding charges are in favour of Bank of America, N.A.: one created on July 31, 2020 (a debenture with a fixed charge over land), one created on January 3, 2019 and one created on November 12, 2018, for which the register notes that all of the property or undertaking has been released. A charge created on February 2, 2018 in favour of Goldman Sachs Bank USA as security trustee was satisfied on September 29, 2022. ^{3 1}

qualification

The register does not state which facility each charge secures. Trico Limited is a borrower under the ABL facility for which Bank of America, N.A. is administrative and collateral agent, as successor to Goldman Sachs Bank USA.

documentedAccording to the first-day declaration, the company's audited consolidated financial statements for 2024 show total net sales of approximately $5 billion. As of the petition date the company was levered about five times, based on $6.1 billion of on-balance-sheet funded debt and reported EBITDA of $1.133 billion; much of the funded debt was raised for acquisitions between 2019 and 2024, which were primarily debt-financed, and annual debt service exceeded $900 million before counting any obligations under the Onset master leases. ¹

documentedThe first-day declaration attributes part of the liquidity strain before the filing to nearly $160 million of up-front integration costs in the twelve months to June 2025 (plant consolidation, severance, purchasing and insourcing), about $200 million spent on launching new programs between June and September 2025, and tariff-related costs of about $220 million as of the end of August 2025. ¹

documentedBefore the filing the company pursued three financing processes, according to the first-day declaration. From mid- to late 2024 it sought new term loans of about €1.3 to 1.5 billion by separating its operations outside North America, including the Trico and ANCO brands, into a new entity; the marketing was led by Banco Santander, S.A. and ended without sufficient lender interest. In July 2025 it launched a global refinancing led by Jefferies to raise about $6.2 billion, which was paused in August 2025 so that the company could complete a quality-of-earnings report requested by certain potential lenders. It also pursued bridge financing for a possible out-of-court sale. ¹

documentedIn a letter from its chief executive and president, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. said that collateralised loan obligations managed by Jefferies Finance LLC, a 50/50 joint venture of MassMutual and Jefferies, through its subsidiary Apex Credit Partners owned $48 million principal amount of First Brands term loans with a current market value of about $17 million, and that Apex CLOs had participated in $8.8 million of the DIP financing. The letter said that, apart from one $300 million loan in 2023 that Jefferies underwrote, every First Brands financing it arranged in the previous ten years was on a best-efforts basis, and that the 2025 refinancing did not proceed because a quality-of-earnings report requested of and promised by First Brands was never delivered. ⁴

documentedThe GLEIF record of Jefferies Finance LLC (LEI 549300SKVB18YSSIDT75), the first- and second-lien agent, gives its previous legal name as Jefferies Babson Finance LLC, its jurisdiction as Delaware with registration number 3833598, its creation date as July 26, 2004, its headquarters at 520 Madison Avenue, New York, and its entity status as active. ⁵

documentedAt the first-day hearing, according to the transcript as quoted in a later court filing, the ad hoc group of lenders providing the debtor-in-possession financing was described as holding approximately 99 percent of the first-lien term loan, 100 percent of the first-lien side-car term loans and 83 percent of the second-lien term loans. ⁶

documentedA prospectus that Palmer Square Capital BDC Inc. filed with the SEC on July 23, 2024 lists two loans to First Brands Group, LLC (shown at 3255 W Hamlin Road, Rochester, Michigan) in its portfolio tables: a first-lien senior secured loan at 10.57% ("S + CSA + 5.00%") maturing March 30, 2027, principal 8,695,953 and fair value 8,719,867, and a second-lien senior secured loan at 14.07% ("S + CSA + 8.50%") maturing March 24, 2028, principal 3,000,000 and fair value 2,977,500. ⁷

documentedA payment date report as of July 8, 2026 for BlackRock European CLO III DAC, whose collateral manager is BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, lists among its holdings "First Brands Group LLC - 2023 Euro Incremental Term loan" (LoanX ID LX218476), a euro tranche of the company's term loans. ⁸

qualification

The amount of the holding cannot be read reliably from the retained copy of the report's tables.

documentedOn September 15, 2025 the company tried to draw the remaining approximately $23 million under the ABL facility; Bank of America, as ABL agent, said reserves would be established and refused to fund. On September 18 it alleged an event of default because the company could not pay its debts as they became due and set a $200 million reserve, producing an overadvance of about $168 million, and on September 19 it asserted that the purchase price paid for certain factored inventory was ABL collateral that had to be deposited into a controlled account. Under a forbearance agreement of September 25, 2025 the ABL lenders agreed not to exercise remedies until October 5, 2025, and the company agreed to provide reporting, accept restrictions on moving collateral and immediately discontinue certain factoring practices. ¹

documentedOn September 23, 2025 the company learned that Southstate Bank had set off debts it said the company owed, about $30 million, against a company account holding about $27 million of working capital, described as the last remaining liquidity of the U.S. entities. According to the first-day declaration this left the company with only $14 million of cash, insufficient to fund operating expenses including payroll, and led to the $24.5 million first-lien bridge loan of September 25, 2025. ¹

documentedAccording to the first-day declaration, besides the funded debt of the FBG debtors, a separate group of "SPV Debtors" took part in lease, inventory and equipment financings recorded off the group's balance sheet. The obligors are subsidiaries of Viceroy Private Capital, LLC and Carnaby Capital Holdings, LLC, not subsidiaries of First Brands Group, LLC, and they are not obligors under the term loans or the ABL facility. In these programs an SPV borrower buys or exchanges inventory or raw materials from other debtor subsidiaries, uses that inventory as a borrowing base to obtain loans and may sell the finished inventory back to other debtors or to third parties. ¹

documentedOn March 28, 2024 Broad Street Financial, LLC, as borrower, entered into a credit agreement with Aequum Capital Financial II, LLC as administrative and collateral agent for a $45 million asset-based revolving facility. The facility let Broad Street buy inventory directly from First Brands Group, LLC and its subsidiaries, including brake parts, electronics, steering components, calipers, pumps and motors, and borrow against it; inventory sold back to the debtors had to be bought by Viceroy Private Capital, LLC if no other debtor bought it. Broad Street held about $66 million of inventory as of July 31, 2025. Its obligations are guaranteed by Broad Street Financial Holdings, LLC and secured by liens on all assets of both companies. ¹

documentedOn December 2, 2024 Global Assets LLC, as U.S. borrower, and Global Assets GmbH, a German limited liability company affiliated with the debtors, as German borrower, entered into a credit agreement with UMB Bank, N.A. as administrative and collateral agent for a $45 million asset-based revolving facility that used finished parts, raw materials and semi-finished products bought from certain debtors as its borrowing base; inventory sold back had to be bought by Viceroy Private Capital, LLC if no other debtor bought it. The borrowers held about $68 million of inventory as of July 31, 2025, and their obligations are guaranteed by Carnaby Capital Holdings, LLC. About $77.8 million of principal was outstanding under the Broad Street and Global Assets facilities together at the petition date. ¹

documentedOn May 31, 2022 Carnaby Inventory II, LLC entered into a credit agreement with GLAS Trust Company LLC as administrative agent for a $60 million asset-based revolving facility (one of two "CarVal" facilities). The borrower could buy manufactured inventory such as brake parts, or raw materials, from the debtors and could engage debtor subsidiaries that have contracts with maquiladora manufacturers to produce inventory for it. It held about $116 million of inventory as of August 2, 2025; its obligations are guaranteed by First Brands Group Holdings, LLC and Carnaby Inventory Holdings II, LLC and secured by liens on all assets of the borrower and of Carnaby Inventory Holdings II. ¹

documentedOn July 6, 2022 Carnaby Inventory III, LLC entered into a second CarVal credit agreement with GLAS Trust Company LLC as administrative agent for a $100 million asset-based revolving facility on the same model. It held about $133 million of inventory as of August 2, 2025, and its obligations are guaranteed by First Brands Group Holdings, LLC and Carnaby Inventory Holdings III, LLC. About $159.0 million of principal was outstanding under the two CarVal facilities at the petition date. ¹

documentedEvolution Credit Opportunity Master Fund II-B, L.P. provided two uncommitted inventory finance facilities of up to $150 million each: to Patterson Inventory, LLC under an agreement of November 9, 2023, and to Starlight Inventory I, LLC under an agreement of March 28, 2024, each guaranteed by its holding company and secured by a pledge of its equity and liens on its assets. The borrowers could buy eligible inventory from First Brands Group, LLC and its subsidiaries and borrow against it; they held about $376 million of inventory as of August 2, 2025, and about $230 million of principal was outstanding at the petition date. ¹

qualification

The first-day declaration added that Evolution's inventory may have been commingled with the inventory of the FBG debtors before the petition date and that the Special Committee would review the issue.

documentedCarnaby Inventory IV, LLC entered into Master Lease Agreement No. OFI1445416 with Onset Financial, Inc. on June 28, 2022, guaranteed by First Brands Group Holdings, LLC, Viceroy Private Capital, LLC, Carnaby Capital Holdings, LLC, Carnaby Capital, LLC and Carnaby Inventory Holdings IV, LLC. Carnaby FA, LLC entered into Master Lease Agreement No. OFI1545465 with Onset on October 24, 2023, guaranteed by Carnaby Capital Holdings, Viceroy, First Brands Group Holdings, Carnaby Capital, Carnaby FA Holdings, LLC, Eagle Casting Holdings, LLC and Eagle Casting, LLC. The first-day declaration notes that Eagle Casting, LLC also guarantees the senior credit facilities. ¹

documentedUnder the Onset master leases, Onset lends funds to Carnaby Inventory IV, LLC to acquire inventory or equipment from First Brands Group, LLC on Onset's behalf; the inventory is then leased back to Carnaby IV and may ultimately be repurchased by First Brands. The debtors stated that they believe the master leases may not be true leases and reserved their rights to have them recharacterised as financings. Including interest, fees and forbearance fees, about $1.9 billion was outstanding under the master leases and related forbearances at the petition date. ¹

documentedCarnaby Inventory IV, LLC and Carnaby FA, LLC entered into a first forbearance agreement with Onset on May 1, 2025, after failing to make monthly payments of about $208 million due that day; the deadline was extended to May 30, 2025 in exchange for late and forbearance fees of about $35 million. On June 1, 2025, after they also missed June payments of $198.5 million, a second forbearance extended the deadlines to June 27 and July 27, 2025 for fees of about $73.5 million and an additional monthly payment of about $223 million. ¹

documentedOn September 24, 2025 thirteen SPV debtors filed Chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, among them Global Assets LLC, Carnaby Capital Holdings, LLC, Broad Street Financial, LLC, Broad Street Financial Holdings, LLC, Carnaby Inventory II, LLC, Carnaby Inventory III, LLC, Patterson Inventory, LLC and Starlight Inventory I, LLC. The first-day declaration says the filings were a protective measure because certain inventory financing lenders could otherwise have exercised remedies, in some cases proxy rights or foreclosure, before forbearances could be obtained. ^{1 2}

documentedOn September 22, 2025 Evolution Credit Opportunity Master Fund II-B, L.P. ("Evolution") notified the debtors of a claimed default under the Starlight facility for failure to pay about $110 million of principal and $7.8 million of accrued interest, and separately claimed that about $4.7 million due on purchased receivables had not been paid. The first-day declaration adds that the company's advisers had recently become aware that inventory subject to Evolution's security interest may have been commingled with collateral securing the ABL facility, a dispute placed under the Special Committee's investigation. ¹

documentedIn a motion reported on March 12, 2026, Evolution asked the court to move the brake-parts business lines covered by its special financing from Chapter 11 into Chapter 7, saying the borrowers owed about $230 million of principal and had no revenue-generating operations and that no prospect of reorganization existed. On April 8, 2026 the debtors sought emergency approval of a settlement allowing the Evolution SPV debtors' cases to be converted, and Patterson Inventory, Patterson Inventory Holdings, Starlight Inventory I and Starlight Inventory Holdings I were converted to Chapter 7 in April 2026. ^{12 11}

documentedThe debtors' first-day declaration (Docket No. 22 in case 25-90399) describes two kinds of receivables factoring. Under Customer Factoring, First Brands sold receivables owed by large retail customers with payment terms of up to 365 days to financial institutions that partnered with those customers, in exchange for near-term payment, often within 30 days, and the customer could later pay the institution directly. Under Third-Party Factoring, it sold receivables to unaffiliated factors that paid it in the near term, sometimes within seven days, in exchange for a payment about 105 days later that First Brands itself, not the customer, had to make to the factor. ¹

documentedThe debtors' first-day declaration states that, after diligence by the company's advisers, the debtors believed an unpaid prepetition balance of about $2.3 billion had accrued under the Third-Party Factoring arrangements as of the petition date. It adds that the factoring practices were under investigation by the Special Committee, including whether receivables had been turned over to third-party factors when received and whether receivables may have been factored more than once. Pending the investigation, the debtors said they would segregate funds received on receivables factored before the petition date. ^{1 2}

documentedThe debtors' motion for factoring procedures (Bankruptcy Docket No. 807, filed on December 1, 2025) states that, although the company had technically sold each receivable to a Third-Party Factor, it continued to service the receivable: the customer paid First Brands when the receivable fell due and First Brands then transferred the amount owed to the factor. At a November 10, 2025 hearing, interim chief executive Charles Moore testified that the parties receiving these payments were not lenders but third-party factors, that in a normal factoring arrangement they would not be creditors of the company, and that this was one of the red flags. ^{3 4}

documentedThe consolidated list of the 30 largest unsecured creditors filed with First Brands' Chapter 11 petition is headed by supply-chain-finance claims: HFS ($233,707,424.12), Trade Finance Company ($208,261,460.18) and 1977 O'Connor ($116,072,544.90), each listing a Raistone sales director as the contact, followed by The CIT Group ($84,370,311.72, supply chain finance), the Internal Revenue Service ($68,661,790.97, federal income taxes) and Napier ($47,094,364.74, supply chain finance). ⁶

documentedFurther down the same list, other supply-chain-finance creditors are Wafra (WSS) ($38,030,178.32), Pemberton Capital Advisors LLP ($36,269,326.67), IVY ($26,643,031.95), Fasanara ($24,298,011.42), Southstate Bank, N.A. ($22,803,104.78), Orbian Management Limited ($20,033,620.15) and Nomura ($8,930,890.70); most of the remaining entries are trade payables owed to suppliers. ⁶

documentedThe same list names four factoring counterparties whose claims are marked contingent, unliquidated and disputed, in undetermined amounts: Evolution Credit Partners, Katsumi Global, LLC and Leucadia Asset Management – Trade Finance Group (Jefferies) under factoring agreements, and Raistone under factoring agreements and supply chain finance. ⁶

documentedA docket summary of case 25-90399 lists among the creditors appearing in the case Raistone Capital LLC and two Raistone Purchasing LLC series (XXXII and XXVIII), Evolution Credit Partners, Katsumi Servicing, LLC, FactoFrance, ING Belgium S.A./N.V., Mitsubishi HC Capital America, Inc., Arab Banking Corporation B.S.C., Onset Financial, Inc., the equipment and vehicle financiers CSI Leasing, Inc. and Ford Motor Credit Company LLC, STORE Capital Acquisitions, LLC and two STORE Master Funding entities, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. It also lists BDO USA, P.C. as a party in the role of auditor. ⁷

documentedThe same docket summary lists as creditors the banks and lenders Bank of America, N.A., UMB Bank, N.A., Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, U.S. Bank National Association, Truist Bank, First Guaranty Bank, Planters Bank, Napier Park Global Capital (US) LP, Silver Point Capital, L.P., De Lage Landen Financial Services, Inc. and Toyota Industries Commercial Finance, Inc. It also lists the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, an Ad Hoc Group of Lenders, Aequum Capital Financial II LLC as an interested party and Martin De Luca as examiner. ⁷

documentedIn a letter published on October 12, 2025, Jefferies' chief executive and president said that First Brands sold receivables to the Point Bonita fund under a Master Receivables Purchase Agreement that included a fee letter, and that the agreement had been listed for years on the schedules to First Brands' credit agreement with all its first-lien and second-lien lenders; the fees went to the fund's investors, and outside counsel for First Brands had opined that they did not breach the credit agreement. Jefferies put its own investments at $43 million, or 5.9%, of Point Bonita's receivables purchased from First Brands and a $2 million interest in First Brands' bank loans through Jefferies Finance's Apex platform. ¹⁴

documentedIn the same letter Jefferies said that nobody at Jefferies was aware of fraudulent activity at First Brands and that it learned of the fraud allegations when the public did, after First Brands stopped remitting to Point Bonita the cash collected on receivables the fund owned. It said Leucadia Asset Management had agreed with the fund's investors that they should submit redemption requests, effective December 31, 2025, leading to four quarterly redemption payments ending in October 2026. ¹⁴

documentedAccording to a January 31, 2026 opinion of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, First Brands sold rights to customer receivables to the factor Evolution Credit Partners, which asserts a first-lien security interest in about $60.5 million of First Brands' receivables. First Brands argues that Evolution has no right to them because of significant irregularities in its previous factoring practices, and says its forensic expert found that Evolution's $60.5 million claim does not match any valid invoices in First Brands' records. ²

documentedPayments on factored receivables collected after the petition went into a segregated Factored Receivables Account in the estate, which held between $105.9 million and $109 million when the debtors asked to spend $63 million of it. The bankruptcy court (Docket No. 1133) allowed them to draw up to $60 million, which would leave about $49 million; it did not rule definitively on Evolution's interest but said it was not convinced Evolution had priority over other creditors. On appeal the debtors represented that the account held over $67 million and that the estate was owed about $230 million of outstanding prepetition receivables, and agreed not to seek further releases before a February 19, 2026 hearing. ²

documentedOn January 31, 2026 Senior U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal (Civil Action H-26-73) remanded Evolution's appeal of the order allowing First Brands to use up to $60 million of cash collateral in which Evolution claims a first-lien interest. The opinion holds that under section 363 a bankruptcy court may inquire into an asserted property interest only to see whether the creditor has a colourable claim, that the bankruptcy court had not ruled that Evolution lacked a security interest, that Evolution likely was not adequately protected when the cash use was allowed, and that new facts created a genuine dispute about its current protection, which the parties could litigate on remand along with whether it holds a first-lien interest. ²

documentedIn adversary proceeding 26-3006, which Evolution Credit Partners and related entities brought to establish a first-priority interest in about $60.5 million of receivables, the bankruptcy court denied Evolution summary judgment and held that it does not have a perfected security interest in the non-purchased receivables with priority over the postpetition debtor-in-possession lenders, because the collateral description in Evolution's financing statements cannot reasonably be read to include them. Fact issues on Evolution's priority over other prepetition secured lenders remained for trial. On July 27, 2026 Senior U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal (Civil Action H-26-4705) denied leave to appeal and dismissed Evolution's appeal for lack of jurisdiction, because the order was not final and the dispute over reading the financing statements did not justify an interlocutory appeal. ²¹

documentedFirst Brands Group, LLC filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on September 28, 2025. The petition was signed by its Chief Restructuring Officer, Charles M. Moore, with Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP as counsel, and estimated assets of $1 billion to $10 billion, liabilities of $10 billion to $50 billion and 25,001 to 50,000 creditors on a consolidated basis with all affiliated debtors. ^{1 2}

documentedThe First Brands Group, LLC case, No. 25-90399 (CML), is the lead case of the jointly administered First Brands cases in the Houston Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas and is assigned to Judge Christopher M. Lopez. Charles M. Moore's declaration in support of the petitions was filed on September 29, 2025. The docket summary retained at the evidence cutoff shows the case as a Chapter 7 case with 154 parties and 120 related cases. ^{2 3 4}

documentedThe first-day declaration states that the special-purpose-vehicle debtors filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions on September 24, 2025 as a protective measure, because remedies threatened by the lenders under the inventory financing facilities could have prejudiced the group's transition into Chapter 11; the remaining debtors filed from September 28, 2025. The declaration counts 112 debtor entities, while a later case summary records First Brands Group, LLC and 98 affiliated debtors filing on September 28, 2025 with funded debt of $9.295 billion. ^{2 4 5}

qualification

Debtor counts differ between records because the debtors filed on different days (September 24, 28 and 29, 2025); the 112-entity figure is the declaration's own count.

documentedA docket summary of the case lists the debtors' advisers as Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP (bankruptcy counsel for all debtors), Alvarez & Marsal North America, LLC (financial adviser, providing Charles M. Moore as Chief Restructuring Officer), Lazard Frères & Co. (investment banking), Kroll Restructuring Administration LLC (claims and noticing agent) and C Street Advisory Group (strategic communications). ^{3 1}

qualification

The docket summary dates Moore's appointment as Chief Restructuring Officer to September 26, 2025; the board resolution in the petition records the appointment on September 24, 2025.

documentedThe Senior Secured Superpriority Debtor-in-Possession Credit Agreement dated October 2, 2025 names First Brands Group, LLC (formerly Trico Group, LLC) as borrower, First Brands Group Intermediate, LLC (formerly Trico Group Holdings, LLC) as parent, the guarantor restricted subsidiaries that are debtors, Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB as administrative agent and collateral agent, and OPY Credit Corp. as trading agent. It was filed in the case on October 6, 2025 as an exhibit to Document 289. ⁶

documentedThe debtors entered Chapter 11 with a $1.1 billion new-money debtor-in-possession facility, plus roll-up amounts, provided by an ad hoc group of their first- and second-lien creditors, with an initial draw of $500 million shortly after the petition date. Under the credit agreement the facility comprises $1,100,000,000 of new-money term loans and roll-up loans of up to $3,300,000,000, created by assigning certain prepetition first-lien and sidecar term loans as the new money is funded. ^{2 6}

documentedThe debtors sought access to the $1.1 billion of new money ($500 million on an interim basis) and authority to roll up $3.3 billion of prepetition debt on September 30, 2025; on October 1, 2025 the court allowed interim access to $500 million of new money and a $1.5 billion roll-up. On November 7, 2025 counsel to the ad hoc group announced that, after negotiations with the creditors' committee, Onset, the company and others, the court had approved the $4.4 billion facility including its 3:1 roll-up structure and related fees. ^{7 5 8}

qualification

The $4.4 billion figure combines $1.1 billion of new money and the $3.3 billion roll-up; it is not $4.4 billion of new liquidity.

documentedUnder the DIP credit agreement the new-money term loans bear interest at 10.00% a year for SOFR or EURIBOR loans, of which 1.55% is paid in cash and 8.45% in kind, and the roll-up loans bear 7.00% a year paid in kind. ⁶

documentedThe DIP credit agreement recites that on the petition date the lenders under the First Lien Term Loan Agreement of February 2, 2018, for which Jefferies Finance LLC was administrative and collateral agent, were owed approximately $4,625,413,695.97 of principal, and that certain lenders had provided $24,500,000 of incremental term loans (the prepetition bridge facility) under Amendment No. 18 dated September 25, 2025. ⁶

documentedThe DIP credit agreement defines the Ad Hoc Group as the ad hoc group of DIP lenders and prepetition first-lien, sidecar and second-lien term lenders represented by the lender advisors, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP as legal counsel and Evercore Group L.L.C. as financial adviser; it names Alvarez & Marsal Holdings, LLC as financial adviser to the borrower. ⁶

documentedMorgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. signed the DIP credit agreement as fronting lender; the members of the Ad Hoc Group agreed to purchase the new-money term loans from the fronting lender. ⁶

documentedA condition of the first DIP funding was a Debtor in Possession Parent Guaranty executed by Viceroy Private Capital, LLC and First Brands Group Holdings, LLC in favour of the administrative agent, Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, so that the two parent companies guaranteed the DIP loans to First Brands Group, LLC. ⁶

documentedEach extension of credit under the DIP facility had to be approved by the Chief Restructuring Officer; each loan party had to be unaware, after due inquiry, of any fraudulent activity in its business after the petition date; commitments under the prepetition asset-based facility (or a related DIP facility) had to be at least $250,000,000, or the court had to approve the use of that facility's cash collateral; and the borrower had to maintain the "big 7" factoring programs on a best-efforts basis. ⁶

documentedSection 6.27 of the DIP credit agreement required First Brands Group Intermediate, LLC to appoint a new independent director to its board of managers from two nominees provided by the Ad Hoc Group, to reconstitute the board's restructuring committee with the new director and two existing independent directors, and to delegate to that committee exclusive authority to oversee the Chapter 11 cases and any sale process and to investigate potential claims against insiders and affiliate transactions. ⁶

documentedThe DIP credit agreement required the borrower to keep a Chief Restructuring Officer acceptable to the required lenders, who consented to Charles Moore of Alvarez & Marsal, and required the borrower, Alvarez & Marsal, Lazard and the borrower's counsel to hold calls every two weeks with the lender advisors on the investigation of potential claims against insiders and affiliate transactions. ⁶

documentedShekhar Kumar, Senior Vice President – M&A, signed the DIP credit agreement for both First Brands Group Intermediate, LLC as parent and First Brands Group, LLC as borrower. ⁶

documentedThe DIP credit agreement required all cash received by the debtors, including tax refunds, to be held in an account subject to perfected liens and a deposit account control agreement in favour of the collateral agent, Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, and required control agreements over the loan parties' existing deposit and securities accounts within 45 days of closing. ⁶

documentedAt a hearing on January 29, 2026 the bankruptcy court allowed First Brands to obtain short-term financing from Ford and General Motors, which were to prepay $48 million for parts over the following week so that businesses serving them, employing about 17,000 people in North America, could keep operating. Despite borrowing $1.1 billion after filing, First Brands had said earlier that month that its cash on hand had fallen to $190 million. ¹⁰

documentedSeveral parties sought outside control or dismissal early in the case: Raistone Capital LLC and Raistone Purchasing LLC – Series XXXII moved on October 8, 2025 for the appointment of an examiner (Bankr. Dkt. No. 307), and the U.S. Trustee did so on October 15, 2025; on October 30, 2025 Evolution Credit sought the appointment of a Chapter 11 trustee and the Carnaby senior secured lenders sought dismissal of certain debtors' cases, as did the Aequum senior secured lenders on November 10, 2025. On November 19, 2025 the court ordered the appointment of an examiner. ^{11 5}

documentedThe debtors litigated with certain SPV lenders over whether the SPV debtors had to be administered separately from the rest of First Brands because they allegedly had separate assets and liabilities, including in Aequum Capital Financial II LLC's motion to dismiss (Bankr. Dkt. No. 631) and in an adversary proceeding brought by Evolution Credit Opportunity Master Fund II-B, L.P. against the debtors (Adv. Dkt. No. 3800). ¹¹

qualification

Described in Patrick James's motion to dismiss the estate's suit against James, which cites these filings.

documentedThe court ordered an examiner to investigate First Brands' prepetition factoring transactions and the transfers and transactions related to its inventory financing arrangements. E. Martin De Luca, appointed in December 2025 in an appointment confirmed by Judge Christopher Lopez, worked on a budget set at $7 million and filed a redacted interim report on April 27, 2026; De Luca wrote that the investigation had been paused because the court-approved budget was exhausted while significant work remained. ^{12 13 14 5}

qualification

The examiner's findings are allegations from an interim report and are described with the estate's claims against insiders; they are not court findings.

documentedOn May 4, 2026 the examiner asked to raise the examination budget from a $7 million cap to $10 million. First Brands objected that at least $2 million of the increase reflected expenses already incurred above the approved budget although the examiner knew the ad hoc group did not consent to an increase, and the ad hoc group also objected; on June 18, 2026 the court denied the request. ^{13 5}

documentedOn January 7, 2026 Judge Christopher Lopez ruled on the motion concerning directors' and officers' liability insurance policies issued to the non-debtor Mayfair Enterprises, LLC (Document 1231): the Side A policies and their proceeds are not property of the estate, so the automatic stay does not apply to them, while the debtors' interest in the proceeds of the ABC policy is estate property; the request to lift the stay for cause was denied without prejudice. ¹⁵

documentedThe debtors had bought two directors' and officers' insurance towers before the petition, an ABC policy and a Side A policy, each of $100 million made up of a $10 million primary policy and nine $10 million excess layers. Because of the bankruptcy court's D&O order the Side A insurers had to drop down and pay defence costs of the litigation against the debtors' directors and officers. Edward James appealed the order, and on April 24, 2026 Senior U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal (S.D. Tex., Civil Actions H-26-513 and H-26-962) refused the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors' motion to dismiss the Side A insurers' appeal, noting that the insurers were in effect joining Edward James's appeal. ¹⁶

documentedThe case docket lists adversary proceedings within case 25-90399 including Evolution Credit Opportunity Master Fund II-B, L.P. v. the entities listed on Schedule 1 (25-ap-03800, October 31, 2025), First Brands Group, LLC et al. v. sealed defendants (25-ap-03803, November 3, 2025), First Brands Group, LLC v. Onset Financial, Inc. et al. (26-ap-03005, January 9, 2026), Evolution v. First Brands Group, LLC et al. (26-ap-03006, January 9, 2026), Bank of America, N.A. et al. v. Aequum Capital Financial II LLC et al. (26-ap-03091, April 1, 2026), a suit by the UAW union against First Brands (26-ap-03143, April 29, 2026), Planters Bank v. Onset Financial (26-ap-03683, June 8, 2026) and GLAS Trust Company LLC, as administrative agent, v. Bank of America, N.A. et al. (26-ap-03592, July 28, 2026). ⁴

qualification

Listing of case captions on the docket; it does not describe the claims or their merits. An adversary filed on February 13, 2026 by individual plaintiffs is not listed by name.

documentedThe case docket lists as interested parties, among others, the Carnaby II and III secured parties, Leucadia Asset Management LLC and the LAM TFG, LAM TFG I SPV and LAM TFG II entities, Banco Actinver as trustee of an irrevocable management trust, and Patrick James, represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP. ⁴

documentedFormer First Brands executives appear separately on the case docket as interested parties with their own counsel, including Michael Baker, Edward James, Stephen Graham, Peter Andrew Brumbergs and Shekhar Kumar; Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and Deva Capital Investment Company, S.L.U. are also listed as interested parties. ⁴

documentedIn June 2026 the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation took three First Brands pension plans covering 1,630 current and future retirees into its trusteeship: the plan for bargaining-unit employees of the FRAM plants in Fostoria and Greenville, the plan for Cardone Industries Inc. union employees and the Dalton Corporation Warsaw Manufacturing Facility pension plan. ¹³

documentedAfter Judge Lopez refused on May 26, 2026 to approve the disclosure statement for an earlier single-debtor plan, the debtors filed on June 5, 2026 an amended joint liquidating plan for the subsidiaries of First Brands Group Holdings, LLC and Viceroy Private Capital, LLC, the holding company of the Carnaby SPV silo; the SPV debtors were not plan debtors. A litigation trust was to be funded with at least $75 million, including $50 million of committed funding backstopped by certain DIP lenders and $25 million of cash, with Gerard Uzzi as litigation trustee. The debtors' equity interests were to be cancelled when their cases closed, and the remaining rights of the holders of interests in FBG Holdings and Viceroy were to be non-transferable. ³

documentedThe amended plan estimated allowed claims against the First Brands debtors at $1.335 billion for new-money DIP claims, $3.3 billion for roll-up claims (deemed allowed at that amount, although the debtors put total roll-up claims at about $3.577 billion), $1.991 billion for first-lien claims, $600 million for second-lien claims, $367 million for asset-based (ABL) claims and $5.641 billion for general unsecured claims. On confirmation the ABL agent would be deemed to have foreclosed on the ABL collateral and transferred it to an ABL collateral trust. ³

qualification

Plan estimates as summarised from the plan and disclosure statement; the plan was not confirmed.

documentedThe amended plan added the First Brands debtors and the special committee members William Transier and Benjamin Duster, as well as Neal Goldman and Benjamin Duster in their capacities as independent managers, to its release and exculpation provisions. ³

qualification

Proposed plan terms; the plan was not confirmed.

documentedIn a June 2026 declaration supporting the plan, Charles Moore disclosed that the debtors had generated approximately $221 million from the Walbro, Toledo Molding & Die and Horizon North America sales and other asset sales, and had used it to pay down secured claims. ³

documentedIn a bench ruling on August 24, 2026 Judge Christopher Lopez refused to confirm the debtors' liquidating plan and later entered a one-page order denying confirmation (Docket No. 3710) that incorporated the ruling. The plan depended on litigation over roughly $25 billion of transfers and needed recoveries of about $1.9 billion to $2.0 billion before administrative claims could be paid in full, possibly pushing the effective date into late 2028; the judge found that recovery case too uncertain and noted that confirmation would immediately transfer assets to trusts, terminate management and impose releases that could not later be unwound. ^{2 5}

outcome

The court did not decide the merits of the estate's claims or find bad faith, and it overruled several disclosure and process objections.

documentedThe ruling also rejected the proposed sale of the estate's litigation claims to the DIP lenders by credit bid, because the lenders' liens attached only to proceeds of certain avoidance actions and not to the claims themselves and because the claims had not been adequately marketed; it held that DIP roll-up claims, being administrative claims, could not serve as the accepting impaired class for Viceroy Private Capital and FBG Holdings, and it refused a preference settlement that let an electing creditor later be removed for alleged adverse conduct. ^{5 2}

documentedIn the same ruling Judge Lopez noted that the declaration of interim CEO Charles Moore had accepted the $25 billion figure without adjusting for potential defences, gave no real analysis of whether claims could be resolved before a 2028 deadline and took no position on possible federal forfeiture of Patrick James's assets in the criminal case; the judge also found that the plan would transfer claims of the SPVs, which are not part of the First Brands estate and are subject to claims of financiers such as Evolution Credit Partners, saying the debtors "can't sell what they don't own". ⁴

documentedOn September 1, 2026 Judge Christopher M. Lopez entered an order converting the remaining First Brands Chapter 11 cases to Chapter 7 (Docket No. 3748), a week after the August 24 bench ruling. By then substantially all of the operating businesses had been sold or wound down, most of the roughly $1.1 billion of new-money DIP financing had been spent and at least $222 million of obligations incurred during the bankruptcy remained unpaid; as reported from the ruling, First Brands no longer operated any business and had terminated most of its workforce. ^{5 6 7 8}

qualification

One trade report dated the conversion to August 24, 2026, the day of the bench ruling; the conversion order itself is dated September 1, 2026. Counsel for Onset put the unpaid administrative and priority claims at nearly $300 million.

documentedThe proposed conversion order filed on August 27, 2026 (Docket No. 3722) would convert 108 First Brands debtors to Chapter 7 on entry, noting that Patterson Inventory, Patterson Inventory Holdings, Starlight Inventory I and Starlight Inventory Holdings I had already been converted in April 2026; it preserved the DIP liens and superpriority claims, and provided that the independent directors Neal Goldman, William L. Transier and Benjamin Duster and the officers Charles Moore, Daniel Jerneycic, Gaurav Malhotra and Paul Kosturos would be deemed to have resigned on conversion. ²

qualification

Terms of the proposed order as filed; the final order of September 1, 2026 is not retained.

documentedOn April 8, 2026 the debtors sought emergency approval of a settlement allowing the cases of the Evolution SPV debtors to be converted to Chapter 7. On July 8, 2026 Evolution moved to compel the debtors to turn over $21.5 million of accounts receivable collected after the petition, and on July 9, 2026 the Chapter 7 trustee of the SPV debtors joined the motion. ²

documentedOn September 4, 2024 the chairman and ranking member of the U.S. House Select Committee on the CCP, John Moolenaar and Raja Krishnamoorthi, with Senators Sherrod Brown and Bill Cassidy and Representatives Darin LaHood, Glenn Ivey and Ashley Hinson, wrote to Patrick James as chief executive of First Brands Group at 3255 W Hamlin Road, Rochester Hills, Michigan. The letter said public information and a Department of Homeland Security raid raised concerns that the company's supplier Qingdao Sunsong and its U.S. subsidiary were circumventing Section 301 tariffs by transshipping products through Thailand, said the signatories were troubled by First Brands' continued purchases, and asked for written answers on its purchases and supplier due diligence, including forced-labour checks, by September 20, 2024. ⁴

qualification

A request for information expressing concern; it is not a finding that First Brands or its supplier broke the law. No reply from First Brands appears in the retained records.

documentedBDO USA, P.C. audited First Brands' financial statements from 2020: testimony at the November 10, 2025 hearing in the estate's suit against Patrick James, quoted in James's motion to dismiss, states that from 2020 through on or around December 31, 2024 BDO provided an audit report for First Brands. A docket summary of the bankruptcy case lists BDO USA, P.C. as auditor. ^{5 6}

documentedIn March 2026 First Brands agreed to sell its Walbro business, which makes small-engine fuel systems, carburetors, fuel pumps and ignition systems, for $50 million. Judge Christopher Lopez approved the private sale to Overdrive Capital, LLC on March 13, 2026, and it closed on March 16, 2026. Overdrive Capital is owned and operated by shareholders and officers of Active Dynamics Group, a Toronto-based supplier, and First Brands said the sale would save about 600 jobs. The Carter Carburetor brand, part of the Walbro business, was excluded from the sale. ^{1 2 3 4}

qualification

The first report of the agreement named Active Dynamics Group itself as the buyer; the purchaser approved by the court was Overdrive Capital, LLC, owned by Active Dynamics' shareholders and officers.

documentedOn May 14, 2026 Judge Christopher Lopez signed an order authorizing First Brands Group, LLC to sell the assets of Toledo Molding & Die (TMD) to TNJ Ohio LLC, an affiliate of JVIS, free and clear of existing liens, claims and interests, under an asset purchase agreement dated May 7, 2026 with WMC-KSA Holdings LLC as the buyer's guarantor; court records value the sale at about $80 million. TMD, founded in 1955, supplies the automotive industry with air and fluid management systems and interior components. ^{4 5}

documentedAccording to an industry press account of the Chapter 7 conversion, three operating businesses were sold in the First Brands bankruptcy: the Horizon Global towing business for $64 million, Toledo Molding & Die for $80 million and Walbro for $50 million. Together the $194 million recovered a fraction of the $1.1 billion First Brands borrowed under its debtor-in-possession (DIP) facility; the brand and intellectual-property sales closed on undisclosed terms and are not included in that total. ⁴

documentedCourt documents dated March 25, 2026 show First Brands agreeing to sell 12 brands, including Fram, Autolite and Trico, to PGI Northstar LLC, an affiliate of Premium Guard, for $25 million, with the buyer taking on certain liabilities related to those brands. The debtors described the assets as their Filters and Plugs, Wipers and StrongArm business lines. The NOCO Company objected on April 3, 2026; the court approved the sale of these intellectual-property assets on April 10, 2026 and the sale closed on April 13, 2026. ^{6 2}

documentedPremium Guard Inc. (PGI), whose affiliate PGI Northstar LLC had bought First Brands intellectual property under a court approval of April 10, 2026, later completed a purchase of further First Brands assets: production lines for oil, air and cabin filters in Albion, Illinois, manufacturing equipment from the former FRAM plant in Ohio, a filtration research and development center and laboratory, and inventory in the United States and Mexico. ^{7 2}

documentedThe brake brands left First Brands in two separate transactions in June 2026, before the case was converted to Chapter 7: Friction One acquired the Raybestos brand, with its formulations, engineering specifications, application data, catalogs and marketing assets, and Motorcar Parts of America acquired the intellectual and digital property behind Centric Parts, Posi Quiet, StopTech, C-TEK and GCX in a Section 363 sale free and clear of liens and claims, without assuming operating liabilities. Terms of both were not disclosed, and neither buyer took over manufacturing operations. ⁴

documentedOn January 26, 2026 First Brands announced the wind-down of its North American Brake Parts Inc., Cardone and Autolite businesses after failing to secure funding or complete sales for them; production stopped and the buyers of the brake brands later acquired brand and engineering assets rather than going concerns. On March 23, 2026 the debtors filed a motion to wind down the Brakes, Autolite and Hopkins units. Hilco Global and SB360 Capital Partners were disposing of First Brands inventory and manufacturing equipment for months; remaining tooling, inventory, real property and unsold brand assets pass to the Chapter 7 trustee. ^{4 2}

documentedIn early 2026 First Brands shut 17 facilities and laid off 4,000 workers after concluding that it did not have enough lender support to reorganize; it kept its last major business lines running on prepaid orders from customers such as Ford Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. while trying to sell its remaining factories. ^{8 6}

documentedIn a notice under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act dated December 29, 2025 and signed by Shekhar Kumar, Senior Vice President, M&A, First Brands Group, LLC told the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services that it would permanently close the entire Eagle Machining facility at 705 N Fayette Street, Fayette, Ohio, affecting 251 employees, with closure to begin on February 27, 2026, because the plant had underperformed for a year. An updated notice of January 27, 2026 brought the closure forward to that day, affecting 246 employees, 235 of them terminated on January 27, 2026; the company cited failed financing efforts, the failure of its sale process and major customers withholding payments, and named Paul Kosturos as its contact. ⁹

documentedEagle Machining, LLC is one of the First Brands affiliated debtors: its Chapter 11 case 4:25-bk-90489 was filed on September 29, 2025 and is jointly administered under First Brands Group, LLC's case 25-90399, and the docket lists it at the group's address, 127 Public Square, Suite 5300, Cleveland, Ohio. ¹⁰

documentedOhio local television reported on January 29, 2026 that more than 230 employees of Eagle Machining, whose parent company it named as First Brands Group, had been abruptly laid off at the Fayette, Ohio plant days before two First Brands executives were arrested on federal fraud charges; the village administrator said the loss of jobs and tax base had forced the village to lay off several police officers. ¹¹

documentedBrake Parts Inc. permanently closed its operations in McHenry, Illinois (4400 Prime Parkway, 1100 Corporate Drive and 1380 Corporate Drive). According to its WARN filing with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in early February 2026, 389 employees there were or would be laid off: 332 that week and 57 retained for a time to help with the closure. The report described First Brands as the parent company, which had filed for Chapter 11 protection the previous September. ¹²

documentedThe organisation chart filed with the Ultinon holding companies' first-day declaration (Case No. 26-90428, March 26, 2026) shows the Ultinon business held through a chain beginning at First Brands Group Holdings, LLC (Delaware), then KTRI Holdings, Inc. (Delaware), Trico Products Corporation (New York), Trico Investments Corporation (Delaware) and Trico Belgium S.A. (Belgium), to Liberty I B.V., its direct subsidiary Liberty II B.V. and Liberty II's direct subsidiary Ultinon Motion Holding B.V. (all Netherlands). Twenty operating subsidiaries in 19 countries, including Ultinon Motion Germany GmbH, sit beneath Ultinon Motion Holding B.V. ^{1 2}

documentedIn connection with the Ultinon acquisition, Liberty II B.V. borrowed under a Senior Facilities Agreement dated July 30, 2024 with Banco Santander, S.A. as agent and security agent, initially €140 million of Facility B term loans, guaranteed and secured by several Ultinon companies; at the March 26, 2026 petition date the agent held security over certain assets of the debtors but not over the cash in their bank accounts. A case summary lists Banco Santander's claim as agent at about $121.5 million, the largest creditor claim in the Ultinon cases. ^{2 1}

documentedAfter First Brands' own Chapter 11 filing, Liberty II B.V. entered a forbearance and waiver agreement on September 28, 2025; on October 27, 2025 Deva Capital Investment Company, S.L.U., a private-debt firm wholly owned by Santander, provided €5 million of emergency funding to Liberty I and Liberty II; and on November 17, 2025 KTRI Holdings, Inc., a debtor in the First Brands cases, lent Liberty II B.V. $7.6 million drawn from the First Brands debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing. A First Brands funding motion of November 21, 2025, approved on November 25, 2025, contemplated $60 million of funding for Liberty I and its subsidiaries (75% from KTRI, 25% from Deva), with KTRI also to buy, through a funded sub-participation at a significant discount, 75% of the outstanding Facility B principal. ¹

documentedJame Donath was appointed independent director of Liberty I B.V. and Liberty II B.V. on November 21, 2025 and a director of Ultinon Motion Holding B.V. on February 3, 2026, and gave the first-day declaration filed on March 26, 2026 in support of the three holding companies' Chapter 11 petitions. ¹

documentedOn March 26, 2026 Ultinon Motion Holding B.V., Liberty I B.V. and Liberty II B.V. filed Chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (lead case 26-90428, with 26-90429 and 26-90430), before Judge Christopher M. Lopez, who presides over the First Brands cases; the Ultinon cases are not jointly administered with First Brands case 25-90399. The stated purpose was to preserve claims and causes of action, including claims under chapter 5 of the Bankruptcy Code, and transfer them to a litigation trust under a plan of liquidation; Kroll Restructuring Administration LLC was the claims and noticing agent. The plan was confirmed on August 20, 2026, and on October 12, 2026 Kroll gave notice of the order approving the combined disclosure statement and plan of liquidation and of the occurrence of the effective date. First Brands Group, LLC, Lumileds Holding B.V. and Wilmington Savings Fund Society appeared as interested parties, and Banco Santander, S.A. as a creditor. ^{2 3 1}

documentedAt the March 26, 2026 petition date the three Ultinon holding companies held about $3.4 million in 22 bank accounts at five banks; Citibank, their primary bank, held 10 of the accounts. Ultinon Motion Holding B.V. had received advances under an International Factoring Agreement of August 8, 2024 with Crédit Agricole Leasing & Finance (CALF) into Citibank euro and Polish zloty accounts and used them to fund the Ultinon operating companies; the declaration expected no further factoring receipts after the filing. ¹

documentedOn the petition date, March 26, 2026, Lumileds Holding B.V., the seller of the Ultinon business, obtained a precautionary attachment of funds in Ultinon Motion Holding B.V.'s Citibank account in the Netherlands. The independent director's declaration says this attachment, together with payment demands the debtors could not meet and a stalled sale process that neither their lenders nor the First Brands DIP lenders would fund further, led the Ultinon holding companies to file for Chapter 11 to obtain the automatic stay. ¹

documentedThe Ultinon declaration lists at least four significant Ultinon operating companies that had begun local insolvency proceedings: Ultinon Motion Germany GmbH in Germany in February 2026, and Ultinon Motion Netherlands B.V., Ultinon Motion Poland S.A. and Ultinon Motion Sweden AB in March 2026; just before the filing the director was told the Polish application might not have been accepted. ^{2 1}

documentedUltinon Motion Germany GmbH, the Aachen plant of the lighting business (formerly known as Lumileds Lampen & Accessoires, about 500 employees), applied for insolvency in early 2026, and the Aachen local court appointed Wolfgang Piroth of the Husemann firm as provisional insolvency administrator. The company attributed the insolvency to the strained situation in the automotive sector and to the burden on its liquidity from the US parent First Brands' insolvency proceedings opened at the end of September 2025 (the First Brands petitions were filed on September 24, 28 and 29, 2025). In the proceeding 92 IN 26/26, the administrator notified the Aachen court on July 31, 2026 that the estate was insufficient to cover its liabilities (Masseunzulänglichkeit), as published by the court on August 3, 2026. ^{4 5 6 1}

documentedGerman commercial-register data list Ultinon Motion Germany GmbH under HRB 19283 at the Aachen local court (previously HRB 124680 at the Hamburg local court), with its address at Philipsstr. 8, 52068 Aachen, and legal entity identifier 54930036OMKCSQ0TI119; the entry is marked as in liquidation. ^{7 4}

documentedGerman commercial-register data for Westfalia-Automotive GmbH (Gütersloh local court, HRB 8808) show a current 100% link to Westfalia-Automotive Holding GmbH and name Tomasz Marcin Sgaslik as managing director of both companies; the data also record an earlier consolidation of Westfalia-Automotive GmbH in the holding company as its parent. ¹²

qualification

Register data as rendered by a data aggregator, which does not verify the direction of the links; the US holding companies above the Westfalia companies are not shown there.

documentedThe former Bolta-Werke in Diepersdorf, now trading as Plastic Manufacturing and also producing in Lüdenscheid and Oberlungwitz, filed for insolvency in early November 2025. The Nuremberg local court appointed Volker Böhm of Schultze & Braun as administrator, Böhm's second appointment for the business after 2022, when Böhm sold it to the Czech Winning Group, which passed it to First Brands in 2024. ^{6 9}

documentedIn the insolvency proceeding of Diepersdorf Plastic Manufacturing GmbH (Nuremberg register HRB 40825, Industriestraße 22, Leinburg; case IE 1607/25), the Nuremberg local court appointed lawyer Katharina Franke as special insolvency administrator to examine the claims lodged against Diepersdorf by Volker Böhm as administrator of Linden Plastic Manufacturing GmbH and SMK Plastic Manufacturing GmbH; the notice, dated March 13, 2026 in its reprint, lists Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP (Frankfurt) as the debtor's representatives. ¹³

documentedGerman commercial-register data list Diepersdorf Plastic Manufacturing GmbH under HRB 40825 at the Nuremberg local court (previously HRB 273335 in Munich), at Industriestr. 22, Leinburg, with former names including Winning Plastics - Diepersdorf GmbH and Winning Germany 7 GmbH. ¹⁴

documentedBy an order of November 24, 2025 the Krefeld local court appointed Jan-Philipp Hoos, a White & Case partner, as provisional insolvency administrator of the automotive suppliers CoFo PWK GmbH (Krefeld) and CoFo Räuchle GmbH (Dietenheim), the two companies of the CoFo group, which employed about 500 people at two production sites in Germany; operations continued in full. ^{10 6}

documentedMeteor GmbH of Bockenem, a long-established maker of automotive seals with about 400 employees, applied for insolvency in early December 2025, citing the insolvency of its US parent group First Brands. On December 2, 2025 the Hildesheim local court appointed Rainer Eckert provisional insolvency administrator; production continued and Meteor group companies outside Germany were not affected. ^{11 6}

documentedThe group organisation chart attached to First Brands Group, LLC's bankruptcy petition (case 25-90399), whose text survives only without its layout, lists among the group's companies Ultinon Motion Holding BV and the Ultinon Motion and Lumileds-named operating companies, Liberty I B.V. and Liberty II B.V., Westfalia-Automotive in the Horizon Global part of the chart, and FRAM Group (Canada) Inc. next to FRAM Group Holdings. ¹⁵

qualification

The recognised chart text loses its lines and boxes, so ownership percentages and direct holders cannot be read from it.

documentedFRAM Group (Canada) Inc., a Toronto-based sales and distribution company of the FRAM filter group (acquired by First Brands in March 2019), made an assignment for the general benefit of creditors under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act on April 30, 2026, reporting assets of about $4.5 million and liabilities of about $4.9 million. The Official Receiver's certificate gives May 1, 2026, 07:10 as the date and time of bankruptcy (estate no. 31-3367690) and appoints TDB Restructuring Limited as licensed insolvency trustee, with the first creditors' meeting set for May 19, 2026. ^{16 17 18 19}

documentedHopkins Canada, Inc., of the Hopkins accessories group (acquired by First Brands in November 2023), which had converted its Blenheim plant into a warehouse around April 2026, filed an assignment in bankruptcy on May 4, 2026, reporting assets of about $6.3 million and liabilities of about $6.6 million; TDB Restructuring Limited was appointed trustee by the Official Receiver. The directors of both Canadian companies had been told that their groups' operations would cease on April 30, 2026 without further funding, after First Brands' accelerated marketing process launched on January 5, 2026 drew no bids for the Canadian entities. ^{20 16}

documentedIn the related miscellaneous case in the Southern District of New York (No. 1:26-mc-00007), Albion Realty LLC, Alester Technologies LLC, Battery Park Holdings LLC, Bond Street Asset Management LLC, Ignite Acquisition Holdings LLC and Pegasus Aviation LLC each filed a corporate disclosure statement under Rule 7.1 stating that it has no corporate parent. ⁵

qualification

A Rule 7.1 statement identifies corporate parents only; it does not name individual owners.

documentedThe bankruptcy court granted the debtors a temporary restraining order on November 3, 2025, the day the complaint was filed, held an evidentiary hearing on November 10 and on November 12, 2025 denied the preliminary injunction that would have frozen the assets of Patrick James and James's companies. According to the defendants' later motion quoting the transcript, the court found no evidence of likelihood of success for Albion Realty, Alester Technologies, Bond Street Asset Management, Ignite Acquisition Holdings, Larchmont or Pegasus Aviation, no substantial threat of irreparable injury, and a balance of harms favouring the defendants. The judge also said there was "nothing showing that James, himself, was manipulating invoices" but that First Brands was "moving tens of millions of dollars through unaffiliated accounts", and that the conduct did not appear to be the work of one person but "was all done while James was CEO." ^{2 7}

qualification

The ruling addressed preliminary relief only, not the merits of the claims.

documentedOn December 15, 2025 Patrick James, the Patrick James Trust and the seven companies, represented by Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, moved to dismiss the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), or alternatively for a more definite statement. They argued that the eight counts sound in fraud without the particularity Rule 9(b) requires, rely on group pleading and "information and belief", do not list the challenged transfers, dates, transferors or transferees, and are partly barred by the doctrine of in pari delicto and by lookback and limitation periods. ^{2 8 3}

outcome

On December 19, 2025 the parties stipulated to extend the debtors' deadline to respond to the motion to January 19, 2026; in April 2026 all discovery in the proceeding was stayed pending the criminal case.

documentedIn April 2026 the bankruptcy court granted the United States' motion to intervene in the adversary proceeding and stayed all discovery pending resolution of the parallel criminal case against Patrick and Edward James, accepting the government's argument that the civil case would allow James to circumvent discovery limits of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure; it required a status update on the criminal case by July 13, 2026. Patrick James, the Patrick James Trust, Albion Realty, Alester Technologies, Battery Park Holdings, Larchmont and Pegasus Aviation appealed. On May 29, 2026 Senior U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal (S.D. Tex., Civil Action H-26-3646) denied leave to appeal and dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, holding that the stay, tied to a criminal trial set for February 2027, was not a final order. ^{9 3}

documentedIn the adversary proceeding Patrick James and the other defendants served a document subpoena on Jefferies Financial Group Inc. on December 2, 2025, and identical subpoenas on its affiliates Leucadia Asset Management, LLC, Point Bonita Capital, LAM Trade Finance Group LLC, LAM Trade Finance Group I SPV LLC and LAM Trade Finance Group II LLC. On January 7, 2026 they opened a miscellaneous case in the Southern District of New York (No. 1:26-mc-00007) to compel Jefferies to comply; on January 9, 2026 Judge Edgardo Ramos approved the parties' stipulation transferring the matter to the bankruptcy court in Texas under Rule 45(f). ^{7 5}

documentedA federal grand-jury indictment in United States v. Patrick James and Edward James, 26 Cr. 29 (AT), was filed under seal in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on January 27, 2026 and unsealed on January 29, 2026, when the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced the charges. Patrick James and Edward James were arrested that morning in the Northern District of Ohio; the case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres. ^{1 2}

qualification

Charges in a grand-jury indictment are accusations; the defendants pleaded not guilty and are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

documentedThe indictment and the U.S. Attorney's announcement describe Patrick James as the founder and former Chief Executive Officer of First Brands Group, LLC, and Edward James, Patrick James's brother, as First Brands' former Senior Vice President. ^{2 3}

documentedThe indictment charges Patrick James in nine counts: managing a continuing financial crimes enterprise (18 U.S.C. § 225, Count One); conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and bank fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1349, Count Two); wire fraud affecting a financial institution (18 U.S.C. § 1343, Counts Three, Four, Six and Eight); bank fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1344, Counts Five and Seven); and conspiracy to commit money laundering (Count Nine). Edward James is charged in Counts Two through Nine. The U.S. Attorney's chart lists maximum sentences of life on Count One, 30 years on each of Counts Two through Eight and 20 years on Count Nine, and a 10-year minimum potential sentence for Patrick James. ^{2 1}

qualification

Charges in a grand-jury indictment are accusations; the defendants pleaded not guilty and are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The prosecutors state that maximum sentences are given for information only and that any sentence would be determined by a judge.

documentedAt the arraignments on February 4, 2026 before Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky in Manhattan, Patrick James pleaded not guilty to all nine counts and Edward James pleaded not guilty to Counts Two through Nine. Patrick James's lawyer said that it was "very much Mr. James' intent to go into court and proclaim his innocence." ^{1 5}

documentedOn February 4, 2026 Patrick James was released on a $50,000,000 personal recognizance bond to be co-signed by two financially responsible persons and secured by $5,000,000 in cash deposited with the court and by a residence. Conditions included home detention with location monitoring, travel limited to the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the Northern District of Ohio, surrender of travel documents, no new financial accounts, no contact with identified witnesses or victims outside counsel's presence and no private air travel. ¹

documentedOn February 4, 2026 Edward James was released on a $25,000,000 personal recognizance bond secured by $1,000,000 deposited with the court and by a residence, with home detention and location monitoring, travel limited to the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the Northern District of Ohio, no new financial accounts, no contact with identified witnesses or victims outside counsel's presence and no private air travel. ¹

documentedJudge Torres eased both defendants' release conditions in June 2026. On June 17, 2026 the court granted Patrick James's June 8 bond-modification request, which a press report describes as replacing home detention with a curfew; on June 23, 2026 it granted Edward James's request to replace home confinement with a curfew, with travel limited to the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio and enhanced telephonic location monitoring. Edward James's counsel wrote that the government and Pretrial Services did not object to a curfew. ^{1 6}

qualification

The docket entry granting Patrick James's request does not state the new terms; the curfew description for Patrick James comes from a press report.

documentedAt the initial conference on February 4, 2026 Judge Torres set trial for July 13, 2026. After both defendants sought adjournments, Patrick James asking for a 2027 trial date and Edward James for one in the fall of 2026, the court on May 8, 2026 set the jury trial for February 9, 2027, and on June 22, 2026 excluded time under the Speedy Trial Act through that date. On September 3, 2026 it scheduled a final pretrial conference for February 1, 2027; on September 30, 2026 it adjourned the October 5 status conference without a new date, stating that it would rule on the pending motions in due course. The last docket entry in the retained record is dated October 14, 2026. ^{1 7}

documentedOn September 4, 2026 the defendants filed pretrial motions. Patrick James moved to sever the trials, to compel production of Rule 16 discovery and Brady/Giglio material held by First Brands Group, LLC and by other government entities, to compel disclosure of Brady material held by the government, and to quash a government trial subpoena; Edward James moved to dismiss the indictment, to sever the trial of Edward James, to suppress evidence obtained through search warrants and to preclude untimely disclosed evidence. Both had earlier moved for bills of particulars. ⁷

documentedPatrick James moved in March 2026 to quash a post-indictment grand-jury subpoena dated February 25, 2026 issued to Cooperative Title Agency of Florida; on May 5, 2026 the court denied the motion, lifted its stay and set a May 14, 2026 return date. In September 2026 Patrick James moved to quash two government trial subpoenas served on third parties, TriState Capital Bank and one other recipient; in orders of September 3 and 4, 2026 the court stayed compliance pending its ruling. ^{1 7}

documentedPeter Andrew Brumbergs, described by First Brands as its former Vice President of Finance, pleaded guilty pursuant to an information before Judge Analisa Torres in United States v. Peter Andrew Brumbergs, 26 Cr. 25 (AT) (S.D.N.Y.); the U.S. Attorney's Office gives the plea date as January 26, 2026, unsealed the plea on January 29, 2026 and said that Brumbergs is cooperating with the government. The office's chart lists eight counts, among them conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and bank fraud, wire fraud affecting a financial institution, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, with a maximum sentence of 30 years on each of seven counts. ^{2 8 9 10 11}

qualification

A guilty plea is Brumbergs's own admission in that case; it is not a finding against any other person.

outcome

One press report said sentencing was set for June 22, 2026; the retained docket extract ends in February 2026 and contains no sentencing record.

documentedThe Sandor Foundation of Chagrin Falls, Ohio (EIN 20-3907906) is a private foundation recognised as a 501(c)(3) organisation, with tax exemption issued in July 2006. Its Form 990-PF returns through fiscal year 2022 (filed March 12, 2023) list Patrick James and Edward James among its unpaid trustees; its return for 2024 lists Michael Baker as an unpaid trustee and reports revenue of $2,010,721, almost all contributions ($2,010,500), charitable disbursements of $1,994,060 and net assets of $52,132. ⁵

qualification

Return data as published in a nonprofit database; the 2024 return does not itself identify Michael Baker further.

documentedIn a merger notification published by the European Commission (case M. 11892, received on February 12, 2025), Global Technologies S.à r.l., a 100% subsidiary of Global Technologies Partners, LLC, sought sole control of Novares Group SAS by share purchase from owners including Equistone V FPCI (76.84%) and Fonds d'Avenir Automobile (14.36%). The notifying parties stated that Global Technologies Partners, LLC is ultimately owned by Patrick James, who is also the ultimate owner of First Brands Group, LLC. ⁶

qualification

Ownership as declared by the notifying parties to the regulator before the bankruptcy.

documentedAccording to the omnibus written consent filed with the Chapter 11 petition, on September 17, 2025 the boards of managers of First Brands Group Holdings, LLC, First Brands Group Intermediate, LLC, First Brands Group, LLC and Viceroy Private Capital, LLC appointed Neal Goldman and William Transier as independent managers and established a special committee made up of them; on September 24, 2025 the boards widened the committee's authority to consider, evaluate, negotiate and approve a potential transaction. The first-day declaration describes the committee's exclusive authority over potential transactions and over an investigation of claims the debtors may hold, including against current and former managers, equity holders, officers and other insiders, covering the company's prepetition factoring and other off-balance-sheet financing; it states that the investigation began before the petition date with the company's counsel and financial adviser. ^{1 2}

documentedThe omnibus written consent approving the Chapter 11 filings, filed with the petition of First Brands Group, LLC on September 28, 2025, was executed by all members of the boards of managers of First Brands Group Holdings, LLC, First Brands Group Intermediate, LLC, First Brands Group, LLC and Viceroy Private Capital, LLC: Patrick James, Shekhar Kumar, Stephen Graham, Neal Goldman and William Transier. ²

documentedCharles M. Moore, a managing director of Alvarez & Marsal North America, LLC, was appointed chief restructuring officer of First Brands Group, LLC and its affiliated debtors in September 2025, before the petition date, according to Moore's first-day declaration. The omnibus consent filed with the petition recites resolutions of the boards of the four parent entities, First Brands Group Holdings, LLC, First Brands Group Intermediate, LLC, First Brands Group, LLC and Viceroy Private Capital, LLC, dated September 24, 2025 and, separately, September 26, 2025, appointing Moore as chief restructuring officer of each parent entity. ^{1 2}

documentedAt the petition date the first-day declaration listed the company's executive officers as Patrick James, chief executive officer; Stephen Graham, chief financial officer; and Shekhar Kumar, senior vice president for mergers and acquisitions. ¹

documentedIn the omnibus consents filed with the Chapter 11 petition, Patrick James signed for First Brands Group, LLC as its President and Chief Executive Officer, including in its capacity as the member of FRAMAuto Holdings, LLC that executed that subsidiary's consent to the filing. ²

documentedSchedule I to the January 9, 2023 Offer to Purchase for Horizon Global shares, filed with the SEC, describes First Brands Group, LLC's leadership: Patrick James had been a director and its chairman and chief executive officer for more than five years; Michael Baker became a director and chief corporate strategy officer in August 2021; Ed James had been executive vice president for more than five years after earlier roles in finance, accounting and working capital solutions with the company and its predecessor; Stephen Graham had been chief financial officer since April 2014, after more than 20 years as chief financial officer of other companies including Dura Automotive, Shiloh Industries, Truck Components and Associated Materials; and Shekhar Kumar became corporate finance manager in August 2021. ^{3 4}

documentedAccording to the same SEC-filed Schedule I, Michael Baker and Shekhar Kumar were both partners at the law firm Paul Hastings LLP before joining First Brands Group, LLC in August 2021, and in each case their work there included serving as outside finance counsel to First Brands Group, LLC. ⁴

documentedPHX Merger Sub, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of First Brands Group, LLC and the purchaser under the Offer to Purchase, had the following officers and directors appointed in December 2022 according to Schedule I of the Offer to Purchase: Patrick James as controlling person, director, president and chief executive officer; Michael Baker as director, chief corporate strategy officer and secretary; Ed James as executive vice president; Stephen Graham as chief financial officer and treasurer; and Shekhar Kumar as corporate finance manager. ⁴

documentedHorizon Global Corporation's Form 8-K reporting events of February 8, 2023 states that, effective at the effective time of its merger, Patrick James and Michael Baker became members of Horizon Global's board of directors, Patrick James became chief executive officer and president, and Stephen Graham became chief financial officer. ³

documentedThe debtors' complaint of November 3, 2025 states that on September 25, 2025 Michael Baker, the former chief corporate strategy officer and a board member, and Ed James, Patrick James's brother and former executive vice president and a board member, each resigned from all positions held as an officer, director, manager or board member at all First Brands entities. ⁵

documentedAccording to the same complaint, on October 30, 2025 Stephen Graham, the former chief financial officer and a board member, retired from all positions at all First Brands entities, and Andy (Peter Andrew) Brumbergs, the former vice president, finance and a board member, was terminated from all positions; both had stopped working as of September 22, 2025. ⁵

documentedPatrick James, the founder, chief executive officer since the company's founding in 2013 and controlling shareholder, resigned on October 12, 2025 from all positions held as an officer, director, manager or board member at all First Brands entities, according to the debtors' complaint, which elsewhere gives October 13, 2025 as the end of James's tenure as chief executive. First Brands announced at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time on October 13, 2025 that Charles Moore had been appointed interim chief executive officer and that James was resigning as chief executive officer effective immediately. ^{5 6}

documentedThe debtors' complaint states that on October 13, 2025, after James's resignation, Charles Moore, a managing director at Alvarez & Marsal North America, LLC who had been chief restructuring officer since September 2025, was appointed interim chief executive officer of the debtors; that Daniel Jerneycic and Gaurav Malhotra were appointed co-chief restructuring officers on October 24, 2025; and that Paul Kosturos was appointed chief financial officer on October 30, 2025, effective November 3, 2025. The company's announcement of Moore's appointment said there were no other changes to its executive leadership team at that time. ^{5 6}

documentedAlvarez & Marsal's own profiles describe Charles Moore as a managing director in its restructuring and turnaround practice in Detroit who previously was a senior managing director at Conway MacKenzie, Inc. and chief financial officer of the automotive supplier Horizon Technology Group, and Paul Kosturos as a managing director in its private equity services operations group in Charlotte who specializes in interim chief financial officer assignments and joined the firm in 2009. ^{7 8}

documentedAlvarez & Marsal's profiles describe Daniel Jerneycic as a managing director in its restructuring and turnaround practice in Detroit with extensive automotive-industry experience, previously a partner in EY-Parthenon's turnaround and restructuring practice, and Gaurav Malhotra as a managing director in the same practice in Chicago who serves on the practice's executive committee and previously led Ernst & Young's U.S. restructuring practice. ^{9 10}

documentedShekhar Kumar remained with the company after the bankruptcy filing: the WARN notice of First Brands Group, LLC dated December 29, 2025 on the closure of the Eagle Machining plant in Fayette, Ohio, sent to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, was signed by Shekhar Kumar as senior vice president, M&A, of First Brands Group, LLC. ¹¹

documentedAn SEC filing describes William Transier as chief executive officer of Transier Advisors, LLC, an independent advisory firm serving companies in stressed operational situations, turnarounds, restructurings or in need of interim executive leadership; Helix Energy Solutions Group's board page, where Transier is chairman, gives the same principal occupation. ^{13 14}

qualification

These records predate or do not mention First Brands; they are linked to the First Brands independent manager by name and professional profile only.

documentedNeal Goldman is described in an SEC filing as managing member of SAGE Capital Investments, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in independent board of director services, strategic planning and transformations, and on a company board page as chief executive officer and managing member of SAGE Capital Investments since 2016 and a former managing director of Och Ziff Capital Management and founding partner of Brigade Capital Management. ^{15 16}

qualification

These records do not mention First Brands; they are linked to the First Brands independent manager by name and professional profile only.

documentedAn SEC filing describes Benjamin Duster as chief executive officer of Cormorant IV Corporation LLC and Mobile Technologies Inc., with more than 45 years of experience and past or present board seats at Expand Energy, Weatherford International, Republic First Bancorp and Alaska Communications Systems. ¹⁸

qualification

The filing does not mention First Brands; it is linked to the First Brands independent manager by name and professional profile only.

documentedCompanies House records for Trico Limited (company number 00234268) list among its officers since 2016: Stephen Edward Graham, director and company secretary from December 16, 2016 to October 22, 2025; David William Parker, director from October 4, 2018 to August 10, 2025 after an earlier term from January 15 to December 16, 2016; Shekhar Kumar, director from January 31, 2022 (active); and Michael Baker, director from January 31, 2022 to September 25, 2025. Kumar's and Baker's entries give the group's address at 127 Public Square, Suite 5300, Cleveland. ^{20 21 22}

documentedCompanies House also lists Jay Russell Machado (October 21, 2020 to June 13, 2023) and Brian Andrew Troyer (October 21, 2020 to January 31, 2022) as former directors of Trico Limited, both with the correspondence address 127 Public Square, Suite 5300, Cleveland. ²⁰

documentedCompanies House lists six UK directorships of Shekhar Kumar: Trico Limited (from January 31, 2022) and Trico Suzhou Investments Limited (from January 18, 2022), both active; Qualitor Automotive UK Limited (from July 29, 2022; company dissolved); and, from February 8, 2023, Horizon Global Digital Limited (company dissolved), C.P. Witter Limited and Horizon Global European Holdings Limited (both resigned March 11, 2026). ²¹

documentedCompanies House lists Michael Baker as a director of Qualitor Automotive UK Limited from July 29, 2022 (company dissolved) and of Trico Suzhou Investments Limited from January 18, 2022 to September 25, 2025, and Stephen Edward Graham as a director of Trico Suzhou Investments Limited from December 16, 2016 to October 22, 2025; these are, with Trico Limited, their only UK appointments. ^{23 24}

documentedDavid William Parker's four UK appointments recorded by Companies House are all in two Trico companies: director of Trico Limited and of Trico Suzhou Investments Limited from January 15 to December 16, 2016 and again from October 4, 2018 to August 10, 2025. ²²