Deals
Claire’s Corners Bondholders With $800 Million Debt Swap
- Apollo-backed company’s proposed exchange sends notes tumbling
- ‘Bondholders are vulnerable, should they not agree to this’
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Claire’s Stores Inc. is turning to its creditors to help it avoid becoming the latest mall chain to succumb to a mountain of debt.
The tween jewelry chain that’s bounced along the bottom of the junk-debt market since its 2007 buyout by Apollo Global Management, is asking bondholders to swap almost $800 million of securities for a smaller amount of new loans. The deal would chip away at the retailer’s almost $2.5 billion debt load and give it more time to boost earnings after it lost more than $500 million in three years as mall traffic declined and competition intensified from online and specialty stores.