Whitehall Announces Significant Investment by Prentice Capital; Banks and Vendors Demonstrate Strong Support for Whitehall
October 04 2005 - 8:54AM
Business Wire
Whitehall Jewellers, Inc. (NYSE:JWL) (the "Company") announced
today that it entered into a series of transactions on October 3,
2005 designed to significantly improve its financial condition. The
Company has entered into agreements with investment funds managed
by Prentice Capital Management, L.P. and another investor
(collectively, "Prentice") to provide financing to the Company. The
first stage of this financing is a $30 million secured bridge loan
being made today. The bridge loan bears interest at the rate of 18%
per annum and matures as early as December 31, 2005. In connection
with the bridge loan the Company issued 7-year warrants with an
exercise price of $.75 per share to Prentice for 2,792,462 shares
of the Company's common stock (i.e., 19.9% of the number of shares
currently outstanding). The agreements also call for the issuance
of $50 million of secured convertible notes not later than January
31, 2006. Proceeds of the planned issuance will be used to pay off
the bridge loan and provide additional liquidity for operations.
The notes will bear interest at the rate of 12% per annum, which
will be payable in shares of common stock (valued at $.75 per
share) for three years. The Company generally will have the option
to extend the maturity of the notes for up to two years beyond the
current three-year maturity, during which interest would be paid in
cash. The notes will be convertible into common stock at a
conversion rate of $.75 per share. Both the bridge loan and the
convertible notes are being secured by a lien on substantially all
of the Company's assets ranking junior to the liens securing the
Company's bank debt. The issuance of the convertible notes is
subject to a number of conditions, including shareholder approval
of a 1-for-2 reverse stock split, the share issuances contemplated
under the notes, and the election of persons designated by Prentice
to constitute a majority of the Company's board of directors.
Giving effect to an assumed conversion of the notes, the payment of
shares as interest and an exercise of the warrants, Prentice would
own 87% of the Company's common stock. The Company also announced
that it had commenced an arbitration proceeding relating to Beryl
Raff's employment with the Company. In addition, the Company, its
banks and Prentice have entered into an agreement with key trade
vendors who hold more than 90% of the Company's trade debt. This
agreement will facilitate the purchase of fresh inventory for the
holiday season and provide for full payment of all amounts owed to
those vendors over time, secured by a lien on substantially all of
the Company's assets ranking junior to the liens securing the
Company's bank debt and debt to Prentice. Finally, the Company
announced that it also has reached agreement with its banks,
LaSalle, Back Bay and Bank of America, to increase the maximum
borrowings under its credit facility, depending on borrowing base
calculations, by $15 million to $140 million and extending the term
of the facility until 2008. Whitehall is pleased to announce its
renewed partnership with key vendors and the new arrangement with
its banks. The Company sincerely appreciates their support through
this challenging period. Whitehall looks forward to an outstanding
partnership with Prentice Capital, which has extensive experience
in the retail sector. Jonathan Duskin, a managing director of
Prentice Capital, stated: "Whitehall is a company with great brand
equity and a rich history. With the remarkable support of the
Company's key vendors, its banks and its dedicated employees,
Prentice is very excited about the future of Whitehall Jewellers."
Whitehall Jewellers, Inc. is a national specialty retailer of fine
jewelry, operating 387 stores in 38 states. The Company operates
stores in regional and super regional shopping malls under the
names Whitehall Co. Jewellers, Lundstrom Jewelers and Marks Bros.
Jewelers. Safe Harbor Statement This release contains certain
forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in Section 27A
of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934) and information relating to the Company that
are based on the current beliefs of management of the Company as
well as assumptions made by and information currently available to
management including statements related to the markets for our
products, general trends and trends in our operations or financial
results, plans, expectations, estimates and beliefs. In addition,
when used in this release, the words "anticipate," "believe,"
"estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "predict," "opinion" and
similar expressions and their variants, as they relate to the
Company or our management, may identify forward-looking statements.
Such statements reflect our judgment as of the date of this release
with respect to future events, the outcome of which is subject to
certain risks, including the factors described below, which may
have a significant impact on our business, operating results or
financial condition. Investors are cautioned that these
forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Should one or
more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should
underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results or outcomes
may vary materially from those described herein. The Company
undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements. The
following factors, among others, may impact forward-looking
statements contained in this release: (1) our ability to execute
our business strategy and our continued net losses and declines in
comparable store sales; (2) our ability to manage our liquidity and
to obtain adequate financing on acceptable terms and the effect on
us if an event of default were to occur under any of the Company's
financing arrangements; (3) a change in economic conditions or the
financial markets which negatively impacts the retail sales
environment and reduces discretionary spending on goods such as
jewelry; (4) reduced levels of mall traffic caused by economic or
other factors; (5) increased competition from specialty jewelry
retail stores, the Internet and mass merchant discount stores which
may adversely impact our sales and gross margin; (6) the high
degree of fourth quarter seasonality of our business and the impact
on the Company's sales, profitability and liquidity; (7) the extent
and success of our merchandising, marketing and/or promotional
programs; (8) personnel costs and the extent to which we are able
to retain and attract key personnel and disruptions caused by the
loss of key personnel; (9) the availability, terms and cost of
consumer credit; (10) relationships with suppliers including the
timely delivery to the Company of appropriate merchandise on
acceptable payment, delivery and other terms; (11) our ability to
maintain adequate information systems capacity and infrastructure;
(12) our leverage and cost of funds and changes in interest rates
that may increase financing costs; (13) developments relating to
the Securities Purchase Agreement, Notes, Warrants and Registration
Rights Agreement with Prentice, including the impact of any adverse
developments with respect to such agreements, that may require the
Company to seek new financing, for which there can be no assurance
of availability on acceptable terms or at all; (14) our ability to
maintain adequate loss prevention measures; (15) fluctuations in
raw material prices, including diamond, gem and gold prices; (16)
the impact of current or future price reductions on margins and
resultant valuation allowances taken on certain merchandise
inventory identified from time to time as items which would not be
part of the Company's future merchandise presentation as well as
alternative methods of disposition of this merchandise inventory
and resulting valuation allowances taken; (17) developments
relating to settlement of the consolidated Capital Factors actions,
the non-prosecution agreement entered into with the United States
Attorney's Office, the SEC investigation, and shareholder and other
civil litigation, including the impact of such developments on our
results of operations and financial condition and relationship with
our lenders or with our vendors; (18) regulation affecting the
industry generally, including regulation of marketing practices;
and (19) the risk factors identified from time to time in our
filings with the SEC. Additional Information In connection with
Whitehall's solicitation of proxies with respect to the meeting of
shareholders to be called with respect to the approval of the
reverse stock split, share issuances contemplated under the
convertible notes and election of certain directors, Whitehall will
file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), and
will furnish to shareholders of Whitehall, a proxy statement.
Shareholders are advised to read the proxy statement when it is
finalized and distributed to shareholders, because it will contain
important information. Shareholders will be able to obtain a
free-of-charge copy of the proxy statement (when available) and
other relevant documents filed with the SEC from the SEC's website
at www.sec.gov. Shareholders also will be able to obtain a
free-of-charge copy of the proxy statement and other relevant
documents (when available) by directing a request by mail or
telephone to Whitehall Jewellers, Inc., 155 North Wacker Drive,
Suite 500, Chicago, Illinois 60606, Attention: Investor Relations,
Telephone: 312/732-6800 or from Whitehall's website,
www.whitehalljewellers.com. Whitehall and certain of its directors,
executive officers and other members of management and employees
may, under the rules of the SEC, be deemed to be "participants" in
the solicitation of proxies from shareholders of Whitehall in favor
of the actions described above, Information regarding the persons
who may be considered "participants" in the solicitation of proxies
will be set forth in Whitehall's proxy statement when it is filed
with the SEC. Information regarding certain of these persons and
their beneficial ownership of Whitehall common stock as of June 1,
2005 is also set forth the Schedule 14A filed by Whitehall on June
8, 2005. For Investor Relations info: investorrelations@whji.com
Internet Website: www.whitehalljewellers.com
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