Citigroup Inc. paid nearly $900 million by mistake to Revlon Inc. lenders and is asking for the money to be returned, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Lenders that sued Revlon on Wednesday over its debt-restructuring tactics were surprised to learn yesterday that they had been fully repaid on a loan issued in 2016. Citi executives were soon asking for the money back, saying it was paid inadvertently due to an operational error. The lenders were paid the full principal and accrued interest on the loan, one of the people said. Revlon has been at loggerheads with lenders holding the 2016 loan, including Brigade Capital Management LP, HPS Investment Partners LLC and Symphony Asset Management. The lawsuit filed on Wednesday in New York federal court accused Revlon of moving valuable brand assets beyond their reach to use as collateral for other creditors. The lawsuit said that the cosmetics company had breached its loan agreements by siphoning off intellectual property including those for American Crew, Elizabeth Arden, Almay and other brands, transferring them to subsidiaries and pledging them as collateral. Backed by billionaire Ron Perelman’s MacAndrews & Forbes, Revlon has been struggling with a large debt load, and more recently, headwinds stemming from the coronavirus pandemic’s devastating impact on American retailing.
