Winn-Dixie Receives Final Court Approval for $800 Million Credit Facility and Other 'First Day Motions'
19 March 2005 - 9:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Winn-Dixie Receives Final Court Approval for $800 Million Credit
Facility and Other 'First Day Motions' JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 18
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. ("WNDXQ")
announced today that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court has granted final
approval for the Company's $800 million debtor-in-possession (DIP)
credit facility from Wachovia Bank, N.A. The DIP credit facility,
which replaces the Company's previous $600 million credit line,
will be used to supplement the Company's cash flow during the
reorganization process. In addition, the Court this week also
granted final approval for a number of other court filings known as
"First Day Motions." The orders granted by the Court will help the
Company continue to operate its business during the reorganization
process. On February 21, 2005, as part of its voluntary filing to
reorganize under Chapter 11, Winn-Dixie filed more than 25 First
Day Motions to support its associates and vendors, together with
its customers and other stakeholders. At hearings this week, Judge
Robert D. Drain of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern
District of New York granted final approval of the Company's
request to: * Continue payment of salaries, wages and health and
welfare benefits to associates as normal; * Pay vendors for goods
and services provided on or after February 22, 2005; and, *
Continue honoring obligations to its customers under the Company's
Customer Reward Card program. All Winn-Dixie stores in the U.S. and
the Bahamas are open and conducting business as usual. Peter Lynch,
President and Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are continuing to
make good progress in our reorganization case. A seven- member
creditors' committee has now been formed and, along with its
financial and legal advisors, is actively engaged in the
proceedings. We look forward to a cooperative and productive
relationship with them as we continue to take steps to strengthen
our business." About Winn-Dixie Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., is one of
the nation's largest food retailers. Founded in 1925, the Company
is headquartered in Jacksonville, FL. For more information, please
visit http://www.winn-dixie.com/ . Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this press release may constitute
"forward- looking statements" within the meaning of the federal
securities laws. These forward-looking statements involve certain
risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from
the expected results described in the forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements include and may be indicated by
words or phrases such as "anticipate," "estimate," "plans,"
"expects," "projects," "should," "will," "believes," or "intends"
and similar words and phrases. There are a number of factors that
could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from
the expected results described in the Company's forward-looking
statements. There can be no assurance that the Company's
restructuring will be successful. Risk factors related to its
restructuring efforts that could cause actual results to differ
from these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited
to, the following: the Company's ability to continue as a going
concern; court approval of the Company's motions filed with the
bankruptcy court from time to time; the ability of the Company to
operate under the terms of the Company's DIP facility; the ability
of the Company to develop, confirm and consummate plans of
reorganization; risks associated with third parties seeking and
obtaining court approval to terminate or shorten plans of
reorganization, for the appointment of a Chapter 11 trustee or to
convert the cases to Chapter 7 cases; the potential adverse impact
of the Chapter 11 cases on the Company's liquidity and results of
operations; the ability of the Company to obtain and maintain trade
credit and shipments and terms with vendors and service providers
for current and future orders and to maintain in-stock positions
for all of its product offerings; the Company's ability to maintain
contracts that are critical to its operations; the ability of the
Company to attract and retain customers; the ability of the Company
to attract, motivate and retain key executives and associates; and
potential adverse publicity. In addition, the Company faces a
number of risks with respect to its continuing business operations,
including but not limited to: the Company's ability to execute its
strategic initiatives, including asset rationalization, store
upgrades, expense reduction, brand positioning and customer
service, and to fund its store upgrades and brand positioning
initiatives; the Company's ability to increase sales and market
share through the brand-related initiatives being tested in the
Company's lead markets; the Company's ability to increase capital
spending levels in the future to invest in its store base and other
capital projects; the Company's ability to manage its inventory
efficiently; and the Company's response to the entry of new
competitors in its markets, including traditional grocery store
openings and the entry of non- traditional grocery retailers such
as mass merchandisers, supercenters, warehouse club stores,
dollar-discount stores, drug stores and conventional department
stores. Please refer to discussions of these and other factors in
this news release, in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the fiscal year ended June 30, 2004, the Quarterly Report on Form
10-Q for the quarter ended January 12, 2005, and other Company
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These
statements are based on current expectations and speak only as of
the date of such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation
to publicly revise or update these forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
DATASOURCE: Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. CONTACT: Media, Wendi Kopsick,
+1-212-521-4867, or Caroline Gentile, +1-212-521-4883, or Michael
Freitag, +1-212-521-4896, all of Kekst and Company for Winn-Dixie
Stores, Inc.; or investors, +1-212-521-4835 Web site:
http://www.winn-dixie.com/
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