(image courtesy Magnificent Vista)
There’s a slight, baby, teeny-tiny glimmer of hope for Borders. Apparently, they’re not quite dead yet. Late breaking news today indicated Borders is making inroads on restructuring their debt, AND they aren’t hiring bankruptcy lawyers.
According to Bloomberg news:
Borders Group Inc., the second- largest U.S. bookstore chain, surged in after-hours trading on a report that Jefferies & Co. is helping the company restructure its debt.
The investment bank is advising the Ann Arbor, Michigan- based chain on reworking its debt load, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing people familiar with the matter. Borders doesn’t have plans to hire bankruptcy lawyers at this time, the paper said.
Mary Davis, a spokeswoman for Borders, didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Borders advanced 14 cents to $1 at 5:35 p.m. in extended trading. The shares closed at 86 cents at 4:15 p.m. today in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
This doesn’t mean they’re even close to out of the woods, but it does mean there’s a chance they can buy enough time to possibly generate some cash flow! On the other hand, it doesn’t sound like B&N is too thrilled that Borders might get a break. According to Teleread B&N was complaining that if they can pay their bills on time, so can Borders. Clearly, there’s no solidarity there!
The thing is, we’ve seen this movie before. Borders has been struggling on and off for years. They’ve restructured, destructured, restructured, and tried everything to not go under…is this the turning point, or one last grasp for the edge before Borders falls off the cliff?