Sycamore Partners Management LP’s Nielsen & Bainbridge LLC, a wholesale supplier of home décor for major online retailers, filed for bankruptcy protection to turn itself over to lenders KKR & Co. LP and Silver Point Capital LP, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Nielsen & Bainbridge said in court papers Thursday that top lenders KKR Credit Advisors (US) LLC, the credit arm of KKR, and Silver Point agreed to provide a $60 million bankruptcy loan and exchange the debt plus $57.7 million outstanding under its asset-based loan facility the lenders hold for full ownership of the company. The lenders’ credit bid requires court approval to take effect and could be challenged by any higher or better offer for the business, which supplies home décor and other home goods to bricks-and-mortar and online retailers including Walmart Inc., Target Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. The company’s chief transformation officer, Amy Lee, blamed the chapter 11 filing on “recent events all too common for retail vendors,” including supply-chain problems, rising freight costs, tariffs on Chinese imports and inflation’s impact on consumer spending. Nielsen & Bainbridge needs to emerge from bankruptcy in fewer than 60 days, Ms. Lee said in a sworn declaration filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Texas.
