A judge said that teen clothing chain Aeropostale Inc. can ask creditors to vote on its reorganization plan while also gearing up for a trial over whether a key creditor drove the company into bankruptcy to snap it up on the cheap, Bloomberg reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane said that he’s “inclined to approve” the company’s disclosure statement so creditors can vote on whether to approve it. After criticizing the plan’s lack of information about how much some creditors, such as mall landlords, stand to recover, the judge said the timeline should be changed so they can find out the results of an Aug. 22 asset auction before voting. “It’s not perfect,” Judge Lane said. But he called the plan the best the company could do given the deadlines imposed by lenders and Aeropostale’s failure so far to announce a lead bidder for its assets. He asked that the New York-based company file a “supplement” to the plan to let creditors known when they can expect to find out how the auction is going. The retailer has asked Judge Lane to disqualify New York-based private-equity firm Sycamore Partners from using its $150 million debt to bid at the auction. A trial on Aeropostale’s complaint is set for Aug. 15. The case is In re Aeropostale Inc., 16-11275, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
