Claire’s Stores Inc., the retailer owned by Apollo Global Management LLC, said it’s now in “advanced discussions” with a key lender about allowing its stalled recovery plan to proceed after missing a debt payment, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The lender waived declaring a default as the tween jewelry chain continues to negotiate changes to its Europe credit facility, according to a regulatory filing yesterday. The accord with the unspecified lender would include consents to complete a debt swap and obtain cash, Claire’s said. Claire’s also received a waiver from lenders to its U.S. credit line, assuming the company is able to complete the pending exchange offer, according to the filing. Without the waivers, the retailer would have been in violation of covenants governing its fixed-charge cover ratio under the European credit facility and the total net secured leverage ratio under the U.S. credit line as of July 30, Claire’s said. The company missed $77 million of interest payments due Sept. 15 on some of its notes, citing the European lender’s refusal to approve the pending debt swap, and said it would use a 30-day grace period to find a solution. Read more.
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