The home and decoration chain Bed, Bath & Beyond declared bankruptcy this Sunday, as announced through its website
By iProfessional
23/04/2023 – 11,45hs
The home and decoration chain Bed, Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, as announced on its website. The company founded in 1971 in New Jersey fhe failed in his attempts to right the course after years of trouble.
“Thank you to all of our loyal customers. We have made the difficult decision to start dismantling our operations. Bed Bath & Beyond and buybuy BABY stores and websites are open and serving customers.”
The company calculates that at the end of November it had assets of 4,401 million dollars and a total debt of 5,200 million dollars, according to the documentation presented to the New Jersey courts.
The number of creditors ranges from 25,001 to 50,000. The main unsecured creditor is BNY Mellon with 1,185 million dollars, a long way behind the next, Personalization Mall, with $11 million. A total of 73 different companies have filed for bankruptcy. Bed Bath & Beyond’s chief financial officer, Holly Etlin, will act as director of restructuring to manage the bankruptcy, reports Spain’s El País.
Bed, Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy
Bed Bath & Beyond had been on the verge of bankruptcy for more than a year due to its financial problems, aggravated by the pandemic, electronic commerce, changes in consumer habits and high inflation. The company did not know how to adapt and its proposal was less and less convincing to customers.
Bed, Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy
Last year it already warned of its uncertainty to continue as a going concern and at the beginning of the year it warned that it had stopped meeting its financial obligations. His crisis was tragically marked last year by the suicide of its financial director. In recent months, it had tried to avoid the suspension of payments with an agreement with a fund and with the issuance of new shares that it has gradually placed on the stock market.
In parallel, the entities did not give him credit, some suppliers demanded advance payment and this has led to the company having less than the appropriate merchandise. He plummeting sales makes it impossible to generate cash and meet financial obligations, That generates more distrust and start over.
The company began to default on its financial obligations on January 13. That month he received a notification of Acceleration of JPMorgan’s Debt and Default Interest Chase Bank, as agent bank of your credit agreement when default occurs. This caused the principal amount of all loans outstanding under the lines of credit, together with the accrued interest thereon, other premiums and obligations, to become due and payable immediately.
The company received a bailout proposal from hedge fund Hudson Bay Capital Management that it was supposedly going to provide financing for a maximum of 1,000 million, but the agreement did not come to fruition when some of the conditions were breached.
The company’s last attempt consisted of placing newly issued shares on the market. It was a high-risk bet for the subscribers, since if the capital was not increased sufficiently bankruptcy was foreseeable and that the titles lost almost all their value. The price has plummeted 98% in the past year, down to 29 cents per share.
