From Super Bowl to FEMA
USS says it operates roughly 350,000 portable restrooms, making it the largest portable sanitation provider in the United States. Its customer list spans high-profile events like the Super Bowl, emergency deployments for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, major music festivals and residential construction projects nationwide.
Debt-Fueled Growth Meets Economic Reality
If approved, the restructuring would fully repay senior lenders while wiping out $2.4 billion in lower-priority debt by converting it into equity, effectively handing ownership of the company to creditors.
USS told the court its debt load — built up through years of acquisitions and expansion — became untenable as inflation surged and U.S. residential construction slowed. With many of its biggest customers tied to building sites, reduced construction activity squeezed revenue just as interest costs, fuel prices and labor expenses climbed.
Private Equity Era Ends
The company has been under private equity ownership for more than a decade, reflecting a broader struggle among U.S. buyout firms to exit investments on the timelines promised to their backers. Platinum Equity bought USS in 2017 from another private equity owner and attempted to sell the business in 2021. Instead, it created a new investment fund to retain control.
Under the proposed restructuring, Platinum’s existing equity stake would be completely eliminated.
