Aéropostale, Inc. (OTC Pink: AROPQ), a specialty retailer of casual apparel for young women and men, today announced that the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has given final approval for the Company to access $160 million in debtor in-possession ("DIP") financing provided by Crystal Financial LLC. The Court previously had given interim approval for the DIP financing agreement on May 5, 2016. This financing, combined with Aéropostale's operating cash flow, will allow the Company to meet its financial commitments and enable Aéropostale to focus on completing its restructuring process, confirming a plan of reorganization and emergence from Chapter 11 during the third quarter of 2016.
"We are pleased that the Court has approved our DIP financing," said Julian Geiger, Chief Executive Officer. "We are looking forward to emerging from this process as a leaner, more efficient business and firmly believe that we will be well-positioned to compete and succeed in today's retail environment."
As announced on May 4, 2016, Aéropostale filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in an effort to optimize its store footprint, renegotiate burdensome contracts, resolve its ongoing disputes with Sycamore Partners and achieve long-term financial stability.
Additional information can be found at www.ARORestructuring.com. Suppliers and landlords may call our support center +1 (917) 877-5966 or toll-free at +1 (855) 360-2999. They also may emailsuppliers@aeropostale.com or landlords@aeropostale.com.
Aéropostale is advised in this transaction by Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, Stifel Financial Corp. and FTI Consulting.
About Aéropostale, Inc.
Aéropostale, Inc. is a specialty retailer of casual apparel and accessories, principally serving young women and men through its Aéropostale® and Aéropostale Factory™ stores and website and 4 to 12 year-olds through its P.S. from Aéropostale stores and website. The Company provides customers with a focused selection of high quality fashion and fashion basic merchandise at compelling values in an exciting and customer friendly store environment. Aéropostale maintains control over its proprietary brands by designing, sourcing, marketing and selling all of its own merchandise. As of May 1, 2016 the Company operated 739 Aéropostale® stores in 50 states and Puerto Rico, 41 Aéropostale stores in Canada and 25 P.S. from Aéropostale® stores in 12 states. In addition, pursuant to various licensing agreements, the Company's licensees currently operate 322 Aéropostale® and P.S. from Aéropostale® locations in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Since November 2012, Aéropostale, Inc. has operated GoJane.com, an online women's fashion footwear and apparel retailer.
