St. Louis, Missouri-based Save A Lot, a U.S. discount grocer, has announced the successful completion of a comprehensive recapitalization of the business and significant deleveraging of the company’s balance sheet. Under the terms of the agreement, which was supported unanimously by all constituents, the company has completed debt-for-equity and debt-for-debt exchanges that eliminated approximately $500 million in debt and provided an infusion of $350 million in new capital from a combination of new and existing lenders to support the company’s operations and acceleration of its transformation plan.
“With the completion of this recapitalization, we are moving forward with a substantially stronger financial foundation as we continue serving our customers and executing our transformation plan,” said Kenneth McGrath, CEO of Save A Lot. “Our ability to achieve this outcome through a fully consensual and out-of-court agreement is a significant achievement and reflects the confidence of our new owners and lenders in our business model and long-term growth prospects. We thank our vendors and retail partners for their trust and support throughout this process, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with them into the future.
“As our nation is impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, I cannot say enough about the strength and resilience of our retail partners and our team members. These incredible people are on the front lines every day, and we thank them for their unwavering dedication to serving our customers and helping our communities manage through this unprecedented situation. We understand the critical role our company plays as our communities rely on us now more than ever to provide food and other essential, high quality products at low prices,” McGrath said.
PJ Solomon served as financial advisor to Save A Lot, FTI Consulting served as restructuring advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal counsel. Halsey Lane Holdings LLC served as an advisor to the Save A Lot Board of Directors. Alix Partners served as restructuring advisor to Save A Lot’s term loan lenders, and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP served as legal counsel.
Founded in 1977, Save A Lot is one of the largest discount grocery store chains in the U.S. with more than 1,100 corporate and licensed stores in 33 states and 14 wholesale distribution centers.
