With creditors nipping at Joseph-Beth‘s heels, wondering how the independent bookselling chain will emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a new filing this week provided some more concrete answers – which demonstrates an outside savior appears to be the best hope. After initially closing four stores, Joseph-Beth will close a fifth store in Fredericksburg, VA before the end of June. The company is also putting itself up for sale, saying that it can’t come up with a reorganization plan that satisfies lenders, creditors and the bankruptcy court. “In the exercise of their business judgment, and to maximize the return to the […]
Legal
Borders Will Close 28 More Stores; Mortgage Defaults for Agree Realty
After a week of warning that it may close as many as 75 stores, the final tally for this newest round of store closures turns out to be just over a third of that initial projection. The 28 additional stores will close by late May; 7 are based in California and 2 each in Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Washington State. Updated Borders store closure list The collateral damage also continues for Agree Realty, the publicly-traded company who rented more than 20 percent of its total real estate portfolio to Borders. Previously they disclosed a significant writedown of more […]
‘The Murder Room’ Author Capuzzo and Penguin Sued for Libel
Journalist Michael Capuzzo’s true crime book The Murder Room, about the inner workings of the Vidocq Society and published last August, is now under scrutiny in New Jersey District Court. Joan Crescenz quietly filed a libel lawsuit in January against Capuzzo and his publisher, Penguin imprint Gotham. At issue is the way in which Capuzzo characterized the relationship between one of his main subjects, the forensic sculptor Frank Bender, and Crescenz, his secretary for more than two decades. The book claims the relationship was sexual, and uses her name twelve times in the process of discussing the purported affair. Crescenz, […]
Borders Gets Extra Time to Renegotiate Leases
In Tuesday morning’s Omnibus hearing, Manhattan bankruptcy court judge Martin Glenn granted the bulk of Borders’ motions, including an extension of the deadline to renegotiate existing leases by an additional 90 days to September 14. The court also gave final approval on the $505 million credit facility pending several changes are made, including a provision giving the unsecured creditors committee $125,000, up from $50,000, to fund investigations of claims of secured lenders. Judge Glenn empathized with part of the creditors’ objection, noting that “when I look at the incremental cost of new money coming in, it’s pretty steep,” but he […]
Borders Creditors Say Financing Favors Lenders Too Much–And Warn Bookseller Needs A Real Plan By June
The committee of unsecured Borders creditors filed an objection in bankruptcy court Thursday afternoon over the terms of Borders’ debtor-in-possession financing, which they view to be “unreasonable, overreaching and otherwise inappropriate.” The main contention is that Borders borrowed more money than they actually need, creating oversized fees in the millions of dollars for lenders, which only reduces the available funds to pay back creditors. The filing argues that the lenders used their leverage “to impose the objectionable provisions” which Borders was “forced to agree to,” knowing that the bookseller “was on the brink of collapse” before filing for Chapter 11.” […]
NYSE Officially Delists Borders Stock; Seattle’s Best Complains Bankruptcy Will ‘Expose Trade Secrets’
The New York Stock Exchange somewhat obviously filed notice with the SEC that they will officially delist Borders stock on March 21, noting “the uncertainty as to the timing and outcome of the bankruptcy process, as well as the ultimate effect of this process on the Company’s common stockholders. Borders stock was suspended when they filed chapter 11, and even though the company had 10 days to appeal, they did not do so. SEC Filing Meanwhile, Starbucks subsidiary Seattle’s Best Coffee lodged an objection with the bankruptcy court on the grounds that Borders closing 200 stores could damage the company’s […]