HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.,
Sept. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/
-- Claire's Stores, Inc. ("Claire's" or the "Company") today
received approval for its Third Amended Plan of Reorganization (the
"Plan") from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of
Delaware. Having resolved all
stakeholders' issues with respect to the Plan, the Company now
expects to complete its balance sheet restructuring and
successfully emerge from chapter 11 by early October.
Under the terms of the Plan, which is supported by all of the
Company's major creditor groups and sponsored by an Ad Hoc Group of
First Lien Creditors led by Elliott Management Corporation and
Monarch Alternative Capital LP, the Company will eliminate
approximately $1.9 billion of debt
from its balance sheet and gain access to $575 million of additional capital.
"The Plan of Reorganization approved by the Court today gives
Claire's the financial strength necessary to cement our position as
one of the world's leading specialty retailers of fashionable
jewelry, accessories and beauty products for young women, teens,
tweens, and girls," said Chief Executive Officer Ron Marshall. "We have already seen
year-over-year growth in same-store sales and are gaining
significant traction in our newer concessions business. Our
strengthened balance sheet will allow us to further the initiatives
already underway, enhance our customer experience, and continue our
positive growth trajectory. We are grateful to all of the
customers, employees, partners, landlords, and lenders who helped
us reach this important milestone and look forward to being a
stronger partner and employer as a result of our restructuring
efforts."
Claire's commenced its chapter 11 process on March 19, 2018, to undertake a balance sheet
restructuring and eliminate a substantial portion of debt from its
balance sheet to position its Claire's® and
Icing® stores for long-term success. All businesses have
continued to operate as usual throughout the restructuring.
Lazard Frères & Co. LLC is serving as investment banker to
Claire's; FTI Consulting, Inc. is serving as restructuring advisor
to Claire's; Hilco Real Estate, LLC is serving as real estate
advisor to Claire's; and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is serving
as legal counsel to Claire's.
The Ad Hoc First Lien Group is represented by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Guggenheim
Securities, LLC.
Court documents and additional information are available on the
website administered by the Company's claims and noticing agent,
Prime Clerk LLC, at https://cases.primeclerk.com/claires or may be
obtained by calling the Claire's Restructuring Hotline, toll-free
in the U.S., at (844) 276-3027. For calls originating outside of
the U.S., please dial (917) 962-8890.
About Claire's
Claire's Stores, Inc. is one of the
world's leading specialty retailers of fashionable jewelry and
accessories for young women, teens, tweens, and girls ages 3 to 35.
The Company operates through its stores under two brand names:
Claire's® and Icing®. As of August 4,
2018, Claire's Stores, Inc. operated 2,471 stores in 17
countries throughout North America
and Europe, excluding 6,631
concession locations. The Company franchised 687 stores in 28
countries primarily located in the Middle
East, Central and Southeast
Asia and Central and South
America, Southern Africa,
and Russia. More information
regarding Claire's Stores is available on the Company's corporate
website at www.clairestores.com.
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking
Information
Certain statements in this press release
constitute forward-looking statements. Such statements are not
historical fact. Certain of these forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of words such as "believes," "anticipates,"
"expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "estimates," "assumes,"
"may," "should," "could," "would," "shall," "will," "seeks,"
"targets," "future," or other similar expressions. Such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, and other important factors, and our actual results,
performance, or achievements could differ materially from results,
performance, or achievements expressed in these forward-looking
statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to,
statements relating to the court-supervised restructuring process,
descriptions of management's strategy, plans, objectives,
expectations, or intentions, including the ability to support the
Company's operations during the restructuring process and
descriptions of assumptions underlying any of the above matters and
other statements that are not historical fact.
These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's
current beliefs, intentions, and expectations and are not
guarantees or indicative of future performance, nor should any
conclusions be drawn or assumptions be made as to any potential
outcome of any proposed transactions the Company considers. Risks
and uncertainties relating to any capital restructuring initiative
include: risks and uncertainties relating to the U.S. chapter 11
filings, including but not limited to, the Company's ability to
obtain court approval with respect to motions in its chapter 11
cases, the effects of its chapter 11 cases on the Company and on
the interests of various constituents, the ruling of the bankruptcy
court in the Company's chapter 11 cases and the outcome of the
Company's chapter 11 cases in general, the length of time the
Company will operate under its chapter 11 cases, risks associated
with third-party motions in its chapter 11 cases, the potential
adverse effects of its chapter 11 cases on the Company's liquidity
or results of operations or business prospects and increased legal
and other professional costs necessary to execute the Company's
reorganization; the potential adverse effects of the Company's
chapter 11 cases on its liquidity; the transactions contemplated in
the (DIP) financing commitments and RSA are subject to certain
conditions, which conditions may not be satisfied for various
reasons, including for reasons outside of the Company's control,
including the negotiation of terms, conditions, and provisions of
such financing; the ability of the Company to obtain requisite
support for the restructuring from various stakeholders; the
ability of the Company to continue as a going concern; the ability
of the Company to execute any restructuring plan; and the effects
of disruption from any restructuring making it more difficult to
maintain business, financing, and operational relationships, to
obtain and maintain normal terms with customers, suppliers, and
service providers and to retain key executives and to maintain
various licenses and approvals necessary for the Company to conduct
its business.
The above factors, risks, and uncertainties are difficult to
predict, contain uncertainties that may materially affect actual
results, and may be beyond the Company's control. New factors,
risks, and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not
possible for management to predict all such factors, risks, and
uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the assumptions
underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are
reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and
therefore any of these statements may prove to be inaccurate. In
light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the
forward-looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such
information should not be regarded as a representation by the
Company or any other person that the results or conditions
described in such statements or the Company's objectives and plans
will be achieved. These and other applicable risks, cautionary
statements, and factors that could cause actual results to differ
from the Company's forward-looking statements are included in the
Company's filings with the SEC, specifically as described in the
Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
February 3, 2018 filed with the SEC
on April 20, 2018. These
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date such
statements were made or any earlier date indicated, and the Company
does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events, changes in underlying assumptions, or otherwise. If
the Company were in any particular instance to update or correct a
forward-looking statement, investors and others should not conclude
that the Company would make additional updates or corrections
thereafter.
Media Contacts:
Claire's Stores, Inc.
Hind Palmer
Hind.Palmer@claires.com
+44 (0) 7773-844670
Melanie Berry
Melanie.Berry@claires.com
+1 (847) 898-0120
Or
FTI Consulting
Rachel.Chesley@fticonsulting.com
+1 (212) 850-5681
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/claires-receives-court-approval-for-amended-plan-of-reorganization-300716937.html
SOURCE Claire's Stores, Inc.