Over the past two months, Kellwood has been seeking to renegotiate a $140 million bond issue which matures this month. The company is looking to execute an exchange with a group of bondholders to create a better deal for them which matures in 2014. Unfortunately, Deutsche Bank, a large holder of these bonds, has unexpectedly changed their position and stated this past Friday that they will not accept this offer.
“We are surprised and disappointed by Deutsche Banks current position as they were on our bondholder steering committee, helped structure the deal and told us all along that they supported it,” said Michael W. Kramer, president and CEO of Kellwood.
“This comes at a time when Kellwood is performing well, is profitable and has a positive cash flow. Our operations and supply chain are strong. We are shipping our customers on time and will continue to ship our customers on time. Our challenge is simply a debt maturity issue.”
“We are continuing to negotiate with Deutsche Bank and all of our bondholders and are hopeful that we will reach an agreement,” added Mr. Kramer. “At the same time, we are actively exploring a number of alternatives to strengthen our long-term financial position. No decisions have been made at this point and the process could take up to a month. The bottom line is that it is business as usual at Kellwood.”
