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Party City receives approval to exit bankruptcy

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By The Indianapolis Business Journal

INDIANAPOLIS — Party City on Wednesday received court approval to exit bankruptcy and emerge with a leaner balance sheet, avoiding the fate of retail peers who stumbled in Chapter 11 and ceased operations.

The New Jersey-based retailer is set to hand ownership of the company to lenders and reduce its debt load by some $1 billion, according to court papers. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David R. Jones on Wednesday said he would approve the company’s restructuring plan.

“This plan sets the company up for success going forward,” Ken Ziman, an attorney for the company, said during the hearing. “And most important, your honor, this is a plan that preserves thousands of jobs.”

As part of the Chapter 11 process, the company closed more than 60 stores across the country, but was able to keep the vast majority of its more than 700 stores open, according to court papers. “It wasn’t a wholesale exiting of lease locations,” said Ziman.

Party City has three stores in Indianapolis: at 8703 Hardegan St. on the south side 10537 E. Washington St. on the east side and 3622 Bethany Road on the

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September 10, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Party City to Emerge from Bankruptcy with Most Stores Intact

A bankruptcy judge in the Southern District of Texas has approved Party City’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy, multiple sources report. The plan, which will cancel $1 billion in company debt, will enable Party City to close just a “handful” of its nearly 800 stores and save thousands of jobs, Party City attorney Ken Ziman said at a court hearing in Houston, as reported by Reuters.

Ownership of the company will be turned over to the retailer’s current lenders, but the deal will wipe out individual shareholders. “The math is what the math is,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones told a shareholder who spoke up at the hearing per Reuters. “It’s one of those things where there simply is not an alternative.”

Under the plan, $1 billion in pre-petition debt will be converted into equity shares, and Party City will receive a new $562 million loan from its existing lenders. The company also will raise additional cash by selling $75 million in new equity shares.

Party City’s junior creditors, including unpaid trade vendors, will receive $3.5 million in cash plus Party City’s share of a $5.6 billion class action settlement related to credit card payment

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September 9, 2023 by ATTORNEY
May 2024
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