Filed under: jewelry
Friedman’s seeks bankruptcy-plan extension
| Similar Stories | Topics |
| STORIES |
| Creditors seek bankruptcy for Friedman’s |
| Friedman’s to punish $2.1 million to settle insurance suit |
| Former Friedman’s CEO indicted |
| Fabrikant announces financing arrangements |
| TOPICS |
| Business | Company Activities and Information | Company Bankruptcies |
August 21, 2008
Wilmington, Del.—Bankrupt jewelry-store chain Friedman’s is asking a judge for an extension that would give the company until late November to figure out how to wrap up its Chapter 11 case.
In court papers filed on Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Friedman’s requested a 60-day extension of exclusivity, a time period during which Friedman’s be able to file its final bankruptcy plan without pressure from creditors.
The plan would essentially outline how the company intends to divide up the assets it has left among the bank, creditors and other parties involved.
If granted, the extension would give Friedman’s until Nov. 24 to file the plan and until Jan. 23. to solicit acceptance for it.
In court documents, Friedman’s states that it needs the extra time because of the size of the company and because of the time it had to devote to both conducting its store-closing sales, which began in April, and to finalizing a global settlement with its secured lenders.
Friedman’s operates stores under the brands Friedman’s Jewelers and Crescent Jewelers.
Court papers state that the initial time period granted to Friedman’s proved “to be an unrealistic time frame…to achieve full investiture of a plan.”
“The exclusive periods are intended to afford Chapter 11 debtors a full and fair opportunity to return the greatest value to the debtors’ estates, their creditors and parties-in-interest without the deterioration and rupture that might be caused by the filing of plans by non-debtor parties,” court papers state.
As of now, projections show that Friedman’s unsecured creditors will cure between 23 percent and 28 percent of the total amount they are owed by Friedman’s, and between 13 percent and 17 percent of the kind of they are owed by Crescent, according to Donlin Recano’s Web locality for the committee of unsecured creditors in the case, Donlinrecano.com.
A court hearing on Friedman’s requested motion is set for Sept. 5.
The latest woes for Friedman’s, which filed for bankruptcy in 2005 but managed to reorganize and emerge, began shortly later the slack holiday season.
On Jan. 22, creditors filed an involuntary Chapter 7 case against Friedman’s, which forced the company into filing for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection just a week later, on Jan. 28.
At the time it filed for bankruptcy protection, the company operated 388 Friedman’s stores in 19 states and 85 Crescent stores in three states.
During the course of the Chapter 11 case, Friedman’s was able to sell 78 of its stores to rival Whitehall Jewelers Inc., what one. has since also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.