Company to Continue to Meet Its Financial Obligations with Approval of $140 Million Debtor-in-Possession Financing
Business Operations to Proceed Uninterrupted
ST. LOUIS, Sept. 12, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Furniture Brands International ("Furniture Brands" or "the Company") today announced that the "First Day" motions filed on September 9, 2013 relating to the Company's voluntary Chapter 11 restructuring process were approved yesterday by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, the Honorable Judge Christopher S. Sontchi presiding.
Among other considerations, the approved First Day Motions allow Furniture Brands to access the $140 million debtor-in-possession ("DIP") including immediate access of $25 million of new liquidity provided by Oaktree Capital Management L.P. ("Oaktree") allowing Furniture Brands to operate business uninterrupted and continue to meet its post-petition financial obligations, including the payment of employee wages and benefits, timely payment of supplier invoices, continued servicing of customer orders and shipments, and other obligations.
An October 2, 2013 hearing is scheduled for final approval of certain other motions.
"As a result of this approval, Furniture Brands will be able to continue its day-to-day operations without interruption and can begin to implement the restructuring initiatives necessary under the Chapter 11 process," said Ralph Scozzafava, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Furniture Brands. "We are highly confident that as a result of these actions we will emerge as an even stronger company."
Miller Buckfire and Company, LLC is acting as investment banker for the Company; Alvarez and Marsal North America, LLC is acting as restructuring advisor and Paul Hastings LLP is the Company's legal counsel.
Furniture Brands and certain of its affiliates commenced cases to reorganize under chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on September 9, 2013. The chapter 11 cases are being jointly administered under case number 13-12329. Additional information about the restructuring is available at the Company's website www.furniturebrands.com. For access to Court documents and other general information about the Chapter 11 cases, please visit: http://dm.epiq11.com/FBN
About Furniture Brands
Furniture Brands International (OTC:FBNI) is a world leader in designing, manufacturing, sourcing and retailing home furnishings. Furniture Brands markets products through a wide range of channels, including company owned Thomasville retail stores and through interior designers, multi-line/independent retailers and mass merchant stores. Furniture Brands serves its customers through some of the best known and most respected brands in the furniture industry, including Thomasville, Broyhill, Lane, Drexel Heritage, Henredon, Pearson, Hickory Chair, Lane Venture, Maitland-Smith and LaBarge. To learn more about the company, visit www.furniturebrands.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Matters discussed in this document and in our public disclosures, whether written or oral, relating to future events or our future performance, including any discussion, express or implied, of our anticipated growth, operating results, future earnings per share, or plans and objectives, contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements are often identified by the words "will," "believe," "positioned, " "estimate," "project," "target," "continue," "intend," "expect," "future," "anticipates," and similar expressions that are not statements of historical fact. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Our actual results and timing of certain events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including, but not limited to, those set forth under "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 29, 2012, and in our other subsequent public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors include, but are not limited to: failure to identify and successfully implement strategic initiatives; changes in economic conditions; loss of market share due to competition; changes in our pension funding obligations; failure to forecast demand or anticipate or respond to changes in consumer tastes and fashion trends; failure to achieve projected mix of product sales; business failures of large customers; distribution realignments; inventory write-downs; sales distribution and manufacturing realignments; continued operating losses; loss of or reduction in trade credit; ability to service or refinance our debt; restrictions in our credit facilities; increased reliance on offshore sourcing of various products; fluctuations in the cost, availability and quality of raw materials; product liability uncertainty; environmental regulations; future acquisitions or dispositions; possible delisting of our common stock; loss of key personnel; impairment of intangible assets; anti-takeover provisions which could result in a decreased valuation of our common stock; our inability to secure additional financing to meet our operating and capital needs; our ability to open and operate new retail stores successfully; disruptions of our IT systems; failure to maintain and upgrade our IT systems; and fluctuations in our common stock. It is routine for internal projections and expectations to change as the year or each quarter in the year progresses, and therefore it should be clearly understood that all forward-looking statements and the internal projections and beliefs upon which we base our expectations included in this report or other periodic reports are made only as of the date made and may change. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.