The Six Flags debtors (the “Debtors”) have sought only limited relief for suppliers as part of their first day motions. The Debtors estimate that they owed approximately $17 million for goods and services when the bankruptcy petitions were filed. However, the Debtors seek initial authority to pay critical vendor claims in an amount not to exceed $604,543, Section 503(b)(9) claims in an amount not to exceed $4,043,780 and claims of foreign vendors, shippers and warehousemen and potential lien claimants in the approximate amount of $1,408,000. This means that suppliers holding about $11 million in trade debt will have to wait to see if there are any distributions at the end of this bankruptcy.
While the limited amount of the critical supplier relief sought is disappointing, it is not surprising.