Exide Technologies, the 125-year-old battery maker, won initial court approval to borrow as much as $500 million to replace older loans and stay in business while it reorganizes in bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. About $225 million of the new debt will go to pay off and replace a $160 million revolving credit line, with any money left over used for operations, according to court papers. The other $275 million will be partly supplied by a group of noteholders that holds 45 percent of the company’s bonds that mature in 2018.
