A bankruptcy judge gave J.Crew Group Inc. permission to borrow more than $100 million under a chapter 11 loan provided by a group of creditors led by hedge fund Anchorage Capital Group LLC, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Bankruptcy Judge Keith Phillips overruled objections from a rival J.Crew lender to fees the Anchorage-led group is charging for providing a loan of up to $400 million to carry the retailer through its planned restructuring. The clothing retailer plans to draw on another $145 million of the bankruptcy loan in July and will have access to a further $110 million after July if lenders agree, according to J.Crew’s court filings. J.Crew filed for chapter 11 protection on Monday with a proposed deal in hand with the Anchorage-led group to swap more than $1.6 billion in debt for all of the reorganized company’s equity. Lenders and bondholders led by Anchorage also agreed to fund the company’s operations while under chapter 11 protection and to convert the bankruptcy financing to an exit loan when the company emerges from bankruptcy.
