PHI Group’s CEO steps down
After serving company for close to 20 years, PHI Group’s President and CEO Lance Bospflug has stepped down from the board following the helicopter-services operator’s emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Petroleum Helicopters International (PHI) and its subsidiaries have undergone numerous leadership changes over the last year in the lead up and amidst the Chapter 11 process. Specifically, majority shareholder and Group CEO Alan Gonsoulin losing his bid to retain control of the company in settlement talks.
The company will be replacing Bospflug with a newly formed ‘Office of the CEO’ which will be comprised of two chairpersons Scott McCarty and Bob Tamurrino who will split the president and CEO responsibilities.
“Lance was instrumental in our formal restructuring process that resulted in a resilient company with PHI emerging as the strongest among its competitors. We are in a unique position to capitalize upon future growth prospects and opportunities while remaining committed to delivering our core values: safe, efficient, quality, service,” the company revealed in a statement to customers.
As part of the new structure, the three PHI subsidiaries will report directly to the new office of the CEO. The three businesses comprise PHI Americas, PHI International and PHI Health which are led by presidents David Stepanek, Keith Mullett and David Martin respectively.
The letter concludes: “We thank Lance for his many years of service, for his leadership, and guiding PHI through our recent reorganization. Please join me in wishing Lance well in his future endeavours.”
PHI filed for bankruptcy protection in March earlier this year, just as $500m of unsecured notes were set to mature. The deadline was pushed back several times before the company filed and was delisted from the Nasdaq shortly after the filing.
Only six months later, the company emerged with help from Houlihan Lowkey — the financial advisor on many other helicopter-operator Chapter 11s recently including CHC and Bristow. The operator proposed a $630m debt for equity swap to trim its liabilities and emerge with a corrected balance sheet.
Alongside this, it also plans to issue $70m in new stock as well as a $150m debt facility.
