Open for business with no impact on customers;
store operations, online sales, and in-home services will continue
as normal
All vendors to be unimpaired and paid in
full
Commitment for $40mm of new money, significant
deleveraging, and support from at least 90% of Term Loan Lenders to
enable business strategy and improve liquidity
Existing ABL refinanced with an upsized
facility with an extended maturity
Company expects to confirm a plan of
reorganization within 35 days and emerge shortly thereafter,
positioned for sustainable growth
The Container Store Group, Inc. (“The Container Store” or “the
Company”), the nation’s leading retailer of organizing solutions,
custom spaces, and in-home services, today announced it will
implement a recapitalization transaction to bolster its financial
position, fuel growth initiatives, and drive enhanced long-term
profitability. To effectuate the transaction, The Container Store
and certain of its subsidiaries filed for voluntary protection
under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the United States
Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on December 22,
2024.
Throughout this process, the Company will operate its business
as usual and will continue to provide high-quality products and
in-home services to its customers without disruption. The Company’s
stores and website will continue to operate as normal; all customer
deposits and orders will be honored and delivered as normal.
At least 90% of the Company’s Term Loan Lenders have entered
into a transaction support agreement, pledging their support for
the in-court recapitalization which, among other things, will
provide the Company with (i) $40mm of new money financing, (ii) at
least $45mm of deleveraging, (iii) substantial debt service relief,
and (iv) material maturity runway. In addition, the Company has
modified its asset-backed lending facility to add $40mm in upsized
capacity. The recapitalization will substantially strengthen the
Company’s balance sheet and liquidity position to enable The
Container Store to continue meeting its commitments to its
partners, vendors, and stakeholders without disruption. Pursuant to
the transaction support agreement, the Company has negotiated and
solicited support for a pre-packaged plan of reorganization and
expects to confirm the plan of reorganization within the next 35
days.
“The Container Store is here to stay. Our strategy is sound, and
we believe the steps we are taking today will allow us to continue
to advance our business, deepen customer relationships, expand our
reach, and strengthen our capabilities,” said Satish Malhotra,
Chief Executive Officer and President of The Container Store. “We
are particularly excited about the future of our custom space
offerings, which continue to demonstrate strength. I want to thank
our incredibly talented employees for their continued dedication,
our customers, partners, and vendors for their support, and our
lenders who clearly see the strong potential in our business. We
intend to maintain our strong workforce and remain committed to
delivering an exceptional experience for our customers while we
execute this recapitalization and for many years to come.”
The Company has filed a motion with the Bankruptcy Court that
will allow it to make timely payments to vendors, suppliers, and
other trade creditors in full under normal terms for goods and
services delivered both before and after the filing. Therefore,
outside of its Term Loan Lenders, the Company’s other creditors
(including its vendor and trade partners) will be unimpaired as
part of the transaction. The Container Store will emerge as a
private company, under the ownership of its Term Loan Lenders, with
a healthy financial profile primed to drive long-term growth.
The Chapter 11 process does not include the Company’s Elfa
business in Sweden, which continues to operate as usual.
The Container Store has created a dedicated website for
stakeholders to get information about the Chapter 11 case at
www.futureforcontainerstore.com.
Additional information on the Company’s Chapter 11 case can be
found at www.veritaglobal.net/thecontainerstore or contact Verita,
the Company’s noticing and claims agent, at (888) 251-3046 (for
toll-free U.S. and Canada calls) or (310) 751-2615 (for tolled
international calls).
The Container Store is advised in this matter by Latham &
Watkins LLP as legal counsel, Houlihan Lokey as investment banker,
FTI Consulting as financial and communications advisor, and A&G
Realty as real estate advisor. The ad hoc group of the Company’s
Term Loan Lenders are advised in this matter by Paul Hastings LLP,
Greenhill & Co. as investment banker, and AlixPartners as
financial advisor.
About The Container Store
Founded in 1978, The Container Store Group, Inc. is the nation’s
only retailer with a solution-oriented offering of custom spaces,
organizing solutions, and in-home services, designed to transform
lives through the power of organization. With more than 100
locations nationwide and a flagship online store, the retailer
offers an exclusive portfolio of custom space lines that can be
designed for any area of the home, and more than 10,000 products to
complete any space.
Visit www.containerstore.com for more information about
complementary Custom Spaces in-home or in-store design, in-home
organizing, products, store locations, trade program, and business
to business opportunities.
Follow The Container Store on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok,
YouTube, Pinterest and LinkedIn.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not
relate to matters of historical fact should be considered
forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the
strength of the Company’s business, long-term profitability,
advancing the Company’s strategy, the Company’s ability to continue
operating its business and make timely payments, maintaining our
workforce, and the Company’s ability to implement the restructuring
pursuant to the Chapter 11 cases and plan of reorganization,
including the timetable of completing such transactions, if at all.
These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current
expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees,
but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, our
expectation that our operations will continue in the normal course
following the commencement of the Chapter 11 proceedings, potential
risks associated with Chapter 11 proceedings, potential risks
associated with trading on the OTC Market, including liquidity
constraints and limited regulatory oversight, risks related to our
indebtedness may restrict our current and future operations, and we
may not be able to comply with the covenants in our credit
facilities or refinance or amend our credit facilities on favorable
terms, or at all; there is substantial doubt regarding our ability
to continue as a going concern; and the other important factors
discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on
Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, (the
“SEC”) on May 28, 2024, as updated by our Quarterly Report on Form
10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 28, 2024, filed with
the SEC on October 30, 2024 and our other filings with the SEC.
These factors could cause actual results to differ materially from
those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this
press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent
management’s estimates as of the date of this press release. While
we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some
point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if
subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking
statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as
of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241222725949/en/
Media: The Container Store Group, Inc.
publicrelations@containerstore.com
Rachel Chesley / Rachel Rosenblatt
ContainerStoreSC@fticonsulting.com
Investors: ICRTCS@icrinc.com