LNT decides to pull the plug
By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 10/7/2008 2:00:00 PM
Wilmington, Del. — Even for those who saw it coming, there is a sting to this morning’s federal bankruptcy court request by Linens ’n Things to shutter its remaining 371 stores beginning the middle of this month.
With the number of serious potential buyers waning, at least partly because of the hits capital and credit markets have undergone in recent days, Linens ’n Things is seeking permission to auction off its remaining stores on Oct. 14 and begin going-out-of-business sales Oct. 16, according to documents filed at the Federal Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
“There’s some hope they might be sold,” offered Mary Ann Domuracki, managing director at Financo, the private investment bank that has been trying to market the chain to investors. “There are still a few potential buyers out there” who might bid on the chain.
LNT's reorganizaton plan, which called mostly for debt-to-equity swaps for secured noteholders and stock warrants for unsecured creditors, had envisioned a February 2009 emergence from bankruptcy, if approved. Instead, the company apparently saw the current marketplace as too much to overcome.
