Children’s retailer Gymboree Group Inc. has filed for chapter 11 protection, joining a growing list of brick-and-mortar retailers trying to restructure their debt under court supervision, Reuters reported. Gymboree will close more stores following its second request for chapter 11 protection on Thursday. The company shuttered select stores and cut its debt by $900 million after emerging from its first bankruptcy in September 2017. The retailer has fallen victim to a shift in consumer spending patterns that prioritizes online shopping, which has forced more than 20 U.S. retailers to seek bankruptcy protection since the beginning of 2017. Gymboree has received commitments for up to $89 million in DIP financing to carry it through a prospective restructuring process that will involve selling its Janie and Jack-branded stores and closing a significant amount of the 900 Gymboree and Crazy 8-branded shops. The DIP package comprises US$30m in new money from Goldman Sachs affiliate Special Situations Investing Group (SSIG) and Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Holdings. The rest of the DIP financing is a roll-up of Gymboree’s obligations under its pre-petition term loan agreement. SSIG will also act as a stalking-horse bidder for the sale of Janie and Jack stores with a US$85m credit bid.
