Borders filed details on their new credit agreements with the SEC along with filing their formal quarterly report. They disclose that the new $90 million term loan carries a minimum interest rate of 14.75 percent. Additionally, Borders needs to raise at least $25 million from the sale of new stock shares by May 15, or else there will be a $10 million reserve against the borrowing base of that term loan. (Even with yesterday’s sharp rise in the stock, Borders still has a current total market cap of about $150 million.) Good old Pershing Square is protected in the case […]
Bookstores
More from Borders
Borders management provided a few additional details on their status in a conference call with investors this morning following yesterday’s refinancing and fourth quarter results. But more formal details about their performance and the details of their new debt agreements will come later today when they file their 8-K with the SEC. CFO Mark Bierly said there should be “not that many” Borders superstores likely to close in the coming year. “We do have some stores that will come up for renewal” and the company “will continue to have active dialogue” with landlords over those locations. He admitted that “overall […]
Bookselling News: More from Burkle, and Two Closures
At Barnes & Noble, investor Ron Burkle filed a new statement with the SEC, reiterating their previous objections to the bookseller’s poison pill and recommending that BN “improve its corporate governance practices by adding three to four new, independent directors to the company’s board of directors.” Barbara’s Bookstore will close its Oak Park, IL location this summer after 20 years there. Yesterday a Cook County judge ruled against the bookseller in a longrunning dispute with their landlord over rent and taxes. Owner Donald Barliant “declined to say where the business would move or if it would remain in Oak Park.”Tribune […]
Bookselling: Store Moves
Durham, NC-area “landmark” for the African-American community, the Know Book Store and Restaurant has closed. Owner Bruce Bridges still hopes to find another space in which to reopen.Durham News Cambridge, MA-children’s bookstore Barefoot Books is moving from Porter Square to a new location in Concord.
First Borders
Call it Psychic April Fool’s week: this is one of those weeks when the two major stories are clear from the beginning, but either narrative is subject to plenty of surprises. First up is Borders, which faces an April 1 deadline on their $42.5 million loan from major shareholder Pershing Square. The company would normally report fourth quarter and full-year earnings on or about that same day, but has yet to announce a release date. Presumably results–and the accompanying SEC filing–won’t be announced until the company can speak authoritatively to its forward plans. While most accounts are focused on the […]
Waterstone's Unveils New Corporate Strategy
HMV executives are meeting with City analysts today to unveil some new strategies for Waterstone’s to improve business, which HMV hopes will improve the bookstore chain’s net profit margin in the short term to 2-3% and in the medium term to 3-4%. The big changes Waterstone’s has in mind include a new e-book store to launch by May, a repositioning of range, a greater focus on local promotions, increasing non-book sales from 6% to 10% by 2013, and making the most of Borders transfer sales opportunities, as £60m of sales from Borders up for grabs in locations overlapping with Waterstone’s. […]