Bankruptcy Attorney breaks down what the filing could mean for Gulf World

Yahoo

02-04-2025

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – Chapter 11 bankruptcy is a legal process that allows businesses and individuals to reorganize debts and finances, while continuing to operate, trying to avoid liquidation.
But what does that look like for a company like Gulf World?
'Operations running may mean paying chief organizational officers salaries and paying security and paying water bills and winding down the corporation and selling or transferring off assets and collateral,' said Bankruptcy Attorney Michael Wynn.
Wynn says the nature of bankruptcy moves fast, and more documents are still coming out.
'One of the things I just read said that they, on the eve of filing, removed all of the leadership of the corporations involved and brought in a restructuring team. Not unusual, but when you're dealing with a debtor that specializes in, you know, marine mammals and the well-being and care of animals that, you know, deserve to be treated appropriately, making sure that you have people in place to protect those animals is very important,' added Wynn.
The first day of motions will begin Wednesday, April 2nd.
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'There's going to be a number of things that get addressed tomorrow, including but not limited to the protection of the dolphins and other marine life across all 13 entities. Right? Because this isn't just Gulf World. It's Gulf World and 12 others and so one court in Delaware is addressing what happens to all of that across the board. And a lot of that's going to occur tomorrow so is our Gulf World open on Wednesday? Hard to say I might make other plans,' elaborated Wynn.
In this bankruptcy case those animals are perceived as assets to the company.
'And so while they should be afforded rights and they should be taken care of and they should be cared for delicately, they are also assets that have money values affixed to them that have to be addressed,' said Wynn.
Wynn says if those assets are turned over to other marine parks or rehabilitation facilities the debtor can no longer utilize them to pay debts.
There are several other parties, aside from the animals, that could suffer.
'Unfortunately, a lot of people come out with their hands in the air saying, where's my money? And I would anticipate that in a case like this, there very well may be a lot of claimants at the end of the day who have unsecured claims that are not going to be able to be paid,' said Wynn.
'What's unique about this case is you can tell that they did a decent amount of pre-petition work. However, they have not filed fully complete documents in all of the cases. What does that let you know? Let's you know that most likely this came up a little bit quicker than others,' added Wynn.
A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware is set to hear a 275-page document tomorrow, related to the financing package the debtors want approved. Debt funding is also on the docket.
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