UPDATE 2-Muzak emerges from bankruptcy

By Emily Chasan

NEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - U.S. music and entertainment company Muzak Holdings LLC said on Monday it had emerged from bankruptcy protection, having restructured its debt in about a year.

Investment firm Silver Point Capital, which was the company's largest creditor at the time of the bankruptcy filing, has become the majority equity owner of the reorganized company, it said.

Muzak, which is known for its background music in stores, hotels and elevators, sought court protection from creditors last February to restructure maturing debt in the midst of the credit crisis.

The company cut its debt by more than half to $230 million during the bankruptcy.

'We filed for Chapter 11 with no plan on the table at all, and in less than a year we were able to achieve a fully consensual restructuring,' said Edward Sassower, an attorney at Kirkland & Ellis who represented the company during the bankruptcy.

The company also has a $108.75 million exit finance facility from GE Capital Restructuring Finance, Silver Point and MFC Global Investment Management.

'The capital markets have really opened up since the time that the company filed, and this company was able to obtain exit financing, which it wouldn't have been able to do earlier,' said Josh Sussberg, another attorney at Kirkland & Ellis who worked on the restructuring.

Muzak said it would divide the company into three divisions that will focus on media, sensory branding and technical systems.

Law firm Kirkland & Ellis and financial adviser Moelis & Co advised Muzak on its bankruptcy.

(Reporting by Emily Chasan; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Robert MacMillan) Keywords: MUZAK/EMERGENCE ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.