New Chapter 11 Filing - Gordmans Stores Inc.

Gordmans Stores Inc.

  • 3/13/17 Recap: Clearly Warren Buffett doesn't own this dog. The Omaha, NE-based publicly-traded (GMAN) specialty retailer (apparel and home fashions) with 72 stores in 16 states (according to PE sponsor Sun Capital Partners) or 106 stores in 22 states (according to the company) filed bankruptcy to continue the 5-month long evisceration of Sun Capital Partners' retail portfolio. Oh, and liquidate. Choice quote: "It is likely that other retailers may commence chapter 11 cases in the near term, as retail is set to replace the troubled oil and gas industry as the most distressed sector this year." Just in case anyone is scratching their heads as to how this liquidation could possibly be happening, note that e-commerce made up less than 1-percent of the Company's sales. This REALLY begs the question: what value was Sun Capital Partners bringing to the table? Do they not have operating partners? Sheesh.
  • Jurisdiction: D. of Nebraska
  • Capital Structure: $68.75mm RCF (Wells Fargo) + $31.25mm RCF (PNC Bank NA) of which $29mm in total outstanding, $30mm TL (Wells Fargo - $15mm, Pathlight - $7.5mm & Gordon Brothers Finance - $7.5mm)($27.9mm outstanding). 
  • Company Professionals:
    • Legal: Kirkland & Ellis LLP (Jayme Sprayragen, Patrick Nash, Brad Weiland, Jamie Netznik, Alexandra Schwarzman) & Kutak Rock LLP (Lisa Peters, Jeffrey Wegner)
    • Financial Advisor: Clear Thinking Group LLC (Joseph Marchese)
    • Investment Banker: Duff & Phelps Securities LLC (Joshua Benn)
    • Proposed Stalking Horse Liquidators: Tiger Capital Group LLC & Great American Group LLC
    • Claims Agent: Epiq Bankruptcy Solutions LLC (*click on company name for docket)
  • Other Parties in Interest:
    • Wells Fargo Bank, NA
      • Legal: Riemer & Braunstein LLP (Donald Rothman, Steven Fox) & Greenberg Traurig LLP (Jeff Wolf) & (local) Croker Huck Kasher DeWitt Anderson & Gonderinger LLP (Robert, Gonderinger, David Skalka)
    • Sponsor: Sun Capital Partners
      • Legal: Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP (Neil Herman)
    • Potential Bidder: Hilco Merchant Resources LLC & Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC
      • Legal: Paul Hastings LLP (Chris Dickerson, Matthew Murphy, Marc Carmel) & (local) Telpner Peterson Law Firm LLP (Charles Smith, Nicole Hughes)
    • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors
      • Legal: Frost Brown Todd LLC (Ronald Gold, Douglas Lutz, Adam J. (A.J.) Webb) & (local) Koley Jessen PC (Brian Koenig)
      • Financial Advisor: Province Inc. (Paul Huygens)

Updated 4/14/17

 

 

 

New Chapter 11 Filing - hhgregg Inc.

hhgregg Inc.

  • 3/6/17 Recap: Indianapolis-based (and formerly publicly-traded - HGGG) brick-and-mortar retailer of appliances, consumer electronics, home products (read: all things that millennials don't buy) FINALLY filed for bankruptcy after an endless barrage of negative news stories, including reports of 88 store closures. The company's distress - brought on by trends afflicting the retail space generally and repeated to death in each and every retail bankruptcy filing, e.g., declining mall traffic, onerous leases, etc., - was exacerbated by its credit card program with Synchrony Bank and the need to post letters of credit to collateralize Synchrony's acquired receivables ($3mm paid, another $14mm owed). Note: there's a commentary here about consumer lending. The filing is intended to enable the company to continue with store closing sales and potentially find a buyer for its remaining locations.
  • Jurisdiction: S.D. of Indiana
  • Capital Structure: $300mm '21 credit facility ($56mm out)(Wells Fargo)     
  • Company Professionals:
    • Legal: Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP (Neil Herman, Rachel Jaffe Mauceri, Benjamin Cordiano, Katherine Lindsay, Matthew Ziegler, Michaela Dragalin) & (local) Ice Miller LLP (Jeffrey Hokanson, Sarah Fowler)
    • Financial Advisor: Berkeley Research Group (Robert Duffy)
    • Investment Banker: Stifel & Miller Buckfire & Co. (James Doak)
    • Liquidators: Hilco Merchant Resources LLC (Ian Fredericks) and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC (Michael Chartock) 
      • Legal: Kirkland & Ellis LLP (Patrick Nash, Bradley Weiland, Timothy Bow)
    • Real Estate Advisor: Hilco Real Estate LLC (Ryan Lawlor)
    • Asset Disposition Advisor: Malfitano Advisors LLC (Joseph Malfitano)
    • Claims Agent: Donlin Recano (*click on company name for free docket)
  • Other Parties in Interest:
    • Agent for Prepetition Secured Lender & DIP Lender: Wells Fargo
      • Legal: Choate Hall & Stewart LLP (John Ventola, Sean Monahan, Jonathan Marshall) & Faegre Baker Daniels LLP (Jay Jaffe, Terry Hall)
    • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors
      • Legal: Cooley LLP (Cathy Hershcopf, Seth Van Aalten, Richelle Kalnit, Robert Winning, Melissa Boyd) & (local) Bingham Greenebaum Doll LLP (Whitney Mosby, Thomas Scherer, James Irving)
      • Financial Advisor: Province Inc. (Stilian Morrison)

Updated 4/3/17

New Chapter 11 Filing - Michigan Sporting Goods Distributors Inc.

Michigan Sporting Goods Distributors, Inc.

  • 2/14/17 Recap: Happy Valentine's Day, honey, your favorite midwestern sporting goods store is going out of business and I picked up some sweet Nike kicks for you at (an alleged) 60% off. Great for you. Great for me. Not so great for the 1300 employees, Nike (who is owed $3.8mm), Under Armour (owed $2.4mm), and the company CEO who owns 86% of the equity. Berkeley Research Group is at the helm of another liquidation: never before has a single firm's use of "tombstones" been so literal. 
  • Jurisdiction: W.D. of Michigan
  • Capital Structure: $49.4mm funded secured ABL debt (Wells Fargo)    
  • Company Professionals:
    • Legal: Warner Norcross & Judd LLP (Stephen Grow, R. Michael Azzi)
    • Financial Advisor: Berkeley Research Group LLC (Steve Coulombe)
    • Investment Banker: Stout Risius Ross Advisors LLC (Michael Krakovsky)
    • Liquidators: Tiger Capital Group LLC and Great American Group LLC
    • Intellectual Property Disposition Consultant: Hilco IP Services LLC (Gabriel Fried)
    • Real Estate Advisors: A&G Realty Partners LLC (Michael Jerbich)
      • Legal: Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz (Neil Snyder) & (local) Dickinson Wright PLLC (Allison Bach)
    • Claims Agent: Rust Consulting/Omni Bankruptcy (*click company name above for docket)
  • Other Parties in Interest:
    • Wells Fargo NA
      • Choate Hall & Stewart LLP (Jonathan Marshall, Katherine Reynolds, Kevin Simard) & (local) Bodman PLC (Mark Bakst)
    • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors
      • Legal: Cooley LLP (Cathy Herschkopf, Seth Van Aalten, Robert Winning, Evan Lazerowitz)
    • Phoenix Capital Management Co.
      • Legal: Sugar Felsenthal Grais & Hammer LLP (S. Jason Teele, Nicole Stefanelli)

Updated 4/2/17

New Chapter 22 Filing - Wet Seal LLC

 

Wet Seal LLC

  • 2/2/17 Recap: Chapter 22 of Versa Capital owned retailer filed to liquidate via joint venture with Hilco Merchant Services and Gordon Brothers. 
  • Jurisdiction: D. of Delaware
  • Capital Structure: $10-50mm debt 
  • Company Professionals:
  • Legal: Young Conaway (Robert Brady, Michael Nestor, Jaime Chapman, Andrew Magaziner) & (special counsel - avoidance actions) ASK LLP (Joseph Steinfeld)
  • Financial Advisor: Berkeley Research Group LLC (Stephen Coulombe)
  • Claims Agent: Donlin Recano (*click on company name for docket)
  • Liquidators: Hilco Merchant Resources (David Peress) and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC
  • Intellectual Property Disposition Consultant: Hilco IP Services LLC
    • Legal: Riemer & Braunstein LLP (Steven Fox)
  • Other Parties in Interest:
    • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors
      • Legal: Cooley LLP (Jay Indyke, Cathy Hershcopf, Seth Van Aalten, Max Schlan, Lauren Reichardt) & (local) Saul Ewing LLP (Mark Minuti)
      • Financial Advisor: Province Inc. (Stilian Morrison)

 Updated 4/14/17