- C. Penney Co. will exit Chapter 11 in early- to mid-2021, after filing for bankruptcy protection in May, due to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Plano-based retail giant announced Monday in a release it has completed its sale to Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management, Inc. went through — under which Simon and Brookfield acquired all of JCPenney’s retail and operations assets, or OpCo.
“Today is an exciting day for our company, as we have accomplished our goal of putting JCPenney on a secure path for the future as a private company so that we can continue to serve our loyal customers,” said JCPenney CEO Jill Soltau, in a prepared statement. “With this closing, our operating company has exited Chapter 11 and is continuing under new ownership and the JCPenney banner.
The JCPenney purchase was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in November. Simon and Brookfield acquired the assets through cash and new term loan debt, and took on JCPenney’s (NYSE: JCP) debtors-in-possession and first-lien lenders.
Additionally, at the end of last month, JCPenney’s plan of reorganization was approved to create separate property holding companies made up of 160 real estate assets and all of its owned distribution centers, to be owned by the retailer’s DIP and first lien lenders, the release said. The OpCo will continue to operate the properties via master leases. These changes are expected for the first half of 2021.
Upon its sale of OpCo, the company now has access to $1.5 billion of new financing, including a new asset-based lending facility led by Wells Fargo and the FILO facility.
Kirkland and Ellis LLP, Lazard and AlixPartners LLP are serving as legal, financial and restructuring advisers to JCPenney, respectively.
https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2020/12/07/jcpenney-exit-bankruptcy.html