Conshohocken, Pa. — On November 19, 2018, David’s Bridal took the expected next step of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Doing so will reduce the company’s debt by more than $400 million and provide significant financial flexibility to support long term growth prospects. The process is expected to be completed by early January.
David’s Bridal has sufficient liquidity to meet its business obligations and will continue to operate its business as usual throughout the court-supervised restructuring process, including meeting and exceeding customer expectations and needs. Customers can continue to shop across the more than 300 David’s Bridal stores and online without disruption. Orders will arrive on time and bridal appointments will not be impacted.
“For more than 60 years, David’s has delivered beautiful, high-quality dresses and accessories for our customers’ most special occasions, and the actions we are taking will enable us to build on that tradition,” says Scott Key, chief executive officer of David’s Bridal. “Our team is laser focused on providing brides and their families with the five-star service and experience they deserve and have come to expect from us.”
Key adds: “[This] announcement is just the next step in our efforts to proactively secure David’s Bridal for a long, successful future. We are implementing our consensual restructuring plan from a position of strength and, with the support of our lenders, noteholders and equity holders, the plan will allow us to reduce our debt significantly while continuing to run our business as usual.”
In conjunction with the pre-packaged Chapter 11 process, the company has filed a number of customary motions seeking authorization to support its operations during the process, including authority to continue payment of employee wages and benefits and honor customer payments and orders for dresses and alterations. Vendor and manufacturing partner relationships are expected to be unimpaired during restructuring.
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is serving as the company’s legal advisor, Evercore LLC is serving as its financial advisor, and AlixPartners LLP is serving as its restructuring advisor.
With more than 60 years of experience and more than 300 stores located across the U.S., Canada, UK and franchise locations in Mexico, David’s Bridal offers the convenience of one-stop shopping for the bride and her entire bridal party. For more information, visit http://www.davidsbridal.com.
SOURCE: David’s Bridal