Payless ShoeSource announced that first-day motions to help facilitate continued operations in the ordinary course of business while the company operates under Chapter 11 protection were approved by Judge Kathy A. Surratt-States of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Payless filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday.
As part of the Court’s approval of first day motions, Payless received authorization on an interim basis from the Court to provide employee wages, healthcare coverage, and other benefits without interruption, and pay certain vendors and suppliers for all authorized goods and services. All vendors and suppliers will be paid in the ordinary course for those goods and services provided on or after the date of the Chapter 11 filing.
The Court’s approvals also affirmed on an interim basis access to $245 million of the $305 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing facility provided by a lender group led by Wells Fargo.
As a result of today’s hearing, all Payless stores and Payless.com will be able to continue offering without interruption the wide range of affordably priced family footwear for which they are relied on by families across America.
Related to these activities, Payless has retained Kirkland & Ellis as its legal advisor, Guggenheim Securities as its investment banker and financial advisor and Alvarez & Marsal as its restructuring advisor.
Additional information on the process can be found at www.paylessrestucture.com. Information about the claims process will be available at https://cases.primeclerk.com/payless. The company also has established a call center for questions: 844-648-5574 if calling from within the U.S. or Canada, or +1 347-505-5254 if calling from outside the U.S. or Canada. The court case number is 17-42267.
