Wedding gown retailer David’s Bridal filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday to implement a restructuring deal reached in recent weeks with lenders, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Last week, the retailer announced it had reached an agreement with term loan lenders and substantially all of its senior bondholders and equity holders on the terms of the deal, which will see it slash more than $400 million in debt from its balance sheet. A balance sheet reworking that will preserve David’s as an operating business has support from investors that collectively hold or control roughly 85 percent of the approximately $481 million under the top-ranking loan, and roughly 97 percent of the $270 million in unsecured notes, court papers say. Term lenders will become the majority stakeholders of the business, with a 76 percent stake, assuming the votes come in as expected and the chapter 11 plan wins court confirmation. David’s admitted it had lost some market share to local bridal competitors, but blamed the bulk of its financial struggles on an overload of debt. The Conshohocken, Pa.-based retailer skipped a loan payment recently and opened talks with lenders about how to resolve a debt load of more than $900 million.
