Bankrupt pharmacy chain Rite Aid Corp. has until March 1 to complete its turnaround under a timeline approved by a federal judge yesterday, Bloomberg News reported. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan scheduled a final hearing that day to decide the fate of the company’s reorganization proposal. The ruling comes after complaints that the case was moving so fast it threatened to harm lower-ranking creditors, including people who claim Rite Aid wrongly sold addictive pain killers. The company, backed by senior lenders, had urged Judge Kaplan to hold the hearing in February, arguing that the longer Rite Aid stays in bankruptcy, the more likely it is to liquidate instead of finding a buyer willing to rescue the retailer. Rite Aid faced pressure from its two official creditor committees to slow the pace of the reorganization. A panel of lower-ranking, unsecured creditors and a group representing opioid victims argued that they need more time to review the $3.45 billion loan package Rite Aid says it needs to help fund its reorganization. The company has filed a proposal built on the assumption Rite Aid will have a successful pair of auctions set for December. The heart of the proposal can’t be finished until after the sale is locked down.
