Hertz's Chapter 11 restructuring plan has been confirmed by a bankruptcy court, paving the way for a $1 billion shareholder payout

• Hertz said Thursday its restructuring plan has been confirmed by court and it is set to exit bankruptcy on June 30.
• The exit paves the way for creditors to be paid in full and existing shareholders to receive more than $1 billion of value.
• Typically, in a corporate bankruptcy case like Hertz's, equity shareholders would receive nothing.

Hertz shareholders are one step closer to seeing more than $1 billion of value returned.

The car rental giant and original "meme stock" said on Thursday its restructuring plan has been confirmed by a bankruptcy court, paving the way for creditors to be paid in full and existing shareholders to receive more than $1 billion of value.

Andrew Glenn, who championed the deal for shareholders as the managing partner of Glenn Agre Bergman & Fuentes, told Insider he's "thrilled, but not surprised" that the court approved the deal.

"We put forward the highest and best value and the court recognized that extraordinary outcome in her comments at the end of the hearing," he told Insider, speaking about Delaware bankruptcy judge Mary F. Walrath's comments.

The company is on target to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 30, Hertz said.

"With the court's approval of our plan today and a committed new investor group, we are poised to exit Chapter 11 by the end of this month as a well-capitalized and even more competitive company, with the flexibility and resources to pursue exciting new growth opportunities," CEO Paul Stone said Thursday.

The rental-car company's emergence out of bankruptcy has come as a surprise to many, particularly because the restructuring plan includes a payout to equity investors. Typically, in a corporate bankruptcy case like Hertz's, equity shareholders would receive nothing.

Hertz has estimated shareholders will get a payout of $7-$8 a share, according to court papers cited by the Wall Street Journal.

When Hertz exits bankruptcy, all shareholders will receive $1.53 in cash per share, their portion of a 3% stake in the restructured business set aside for shareholders, and warrants for an additional 18% stake.

Certain accredited shareholders in Hertz, like institutional investors and wealthier individuals, can forego the warrants and instead participate in an equity rights offering, according to WSJ Pro Bankruptcy.

Hertz's plan was approved by more than 97% of voting shareholders. It will eliminate over $5 billion of debt, including all of Hertz Europe's corporate debt, and will provide more than $2.2 billion of global liquidity to the reorganized company.

Hertz rose as much as 2.9% to $7.05 apiece on Friday before paring back gains. The rental car company traded around $6.92 as of Friday 12:45 pm E.T.