NEW YORK (AP) – A JC Penney Co. attorney told a bankruptcy judge Wednesday that the retailer will continue to sell its business and expects the deal to be completed by fall.
The potential sale occurs when Penney, based in Plano, Texas, is looking for three bidders, who are looking to buy the company as a going concern. Bidders were not identified.
During a bankruptcy court speech, Joshua Sussberg, an attorney for Kirkland & Ellis, criticized an article published earlier this week by The New York Post that reported a $ 1.75 billion offer by private equity firm Sycamore Partners to buy Penney and merge with another distressed chain Belk Inc .. He called the report “misinformed”.
“We are moving forward with a sales process,” said Sussberg. “We are hopeful.”
A spokesperson for Sycamore Partners declined to comment.
The 118-year-old company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in mid-May, making it the largest retailer to yield to the financial consequences of the coronavirus. Penney said in mid-July that he plans to cut 1,000 of his roughly 85,000 jobs as he tries to get out of bankruptcy protection.
Penney said last month that it had identified 154 stores to close in the first phase of a restructuring to reduce its footprint. As part of its bankruptcy reorganization, JC Penney has said it plans to permanently close nearly a third of its 846 stores in the next two years. That would leave him with just over 600 locations.
Penney, which reopened its stores beginning in May, said locations outside of the mall are doing better than locations located in shopping centers. But sales and customer traffic have become more challenging with the recent resurgence of COVID-19 in certain states.
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