Houston-based AFGlobal Corp., formerly known as Ameriforge Group Inc., and several of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 30.

The company already has entered into a restructuring support agreement with support from the majority of its senior lenders, and the restructuring process is expected to take about 45 days.

The court granted the companies’ motion to jointly administer the cases for all 20 entities. All of the entities’ petitions indicate their estimated liabilities are between $500 million and $1 billion. However, the estimated assets and estimated number of creditors vary between the different entities. The lead debtor’s petition lists between 200 and 999 creditors.

Several other first-day motions were granted, including a motion to treat the case as a complex Chapter 11 bankruptcy and a motion allowing the debtors to pay prepetition wages, salaries, other compensation and reimbursable expenses and continue employee benefits programs.

AFGlobal will receive substantial interim funds during the restructuring process, and its business will continue to operate as normal, the press release notes.

"Restructuring activities are underway to support our growing oil and gas business, alleviating the company of its unsustainable debt, given current market conditions," Curtis Samford, president and CEO of AFGlobal, said in the release. "Retiring past debt will enable us to more efficiently continue on our path towards building next-generation technologies that support the next phase of drilling and production in our industry. We greatly appreciate the support offered by our senior lenders as well as the infusion of new capital."