Cengage Learning entered into a restructuring support agreement with an ad hoc committee of lenders holding roughly $2 billion of the company’s first-lien debt to support a transaction that would “eliminate more than $4 billion in debt” from the balance sheet, the company announced.

To implement the restructuring, the company said it filed for Chapter 11 in bankruptcy court in Brooklyn.

Cengage said it had about $5.8 billion of total outstanding debt.

The company said it would not require a DIP facility because it “maintains substantial cash balances and expects to generate positive cash flow.” The company added that it reached an agreement with its secured lenders to permit it to continue to use cash flow from operations to fund the business and meet ongoing obligations during the Chapter 11 case.

Cengage’s non-U.S. subsidiaries are not included in the Chapter 11 filing and will continue to operate in the ordinary course without interruption, the company said.

Cengage Learning’s legal advisor is Kirkland & Ellis, with Alvarez & Marsal serving as its restructuring advisor and Lazard as its financial advisor. – Alan Zimmerman