Lillian Vernon's Chapter 11 Filing
Anson
B.
Frelinghuysen,
Christopher
K.
Kiplok,
Jeffrey
S.
Margolin
Hughes Hubbard lawyers have been playing a leading role in the recent Chapter 11 filing in the Delaware Bankruptcy Court by Lillian Vernon Corporation and its 7 affiliated debtors. Lillian Vernon, the internet and catalog retailer, suffered a weaker than expected holiday sales season that, combined with increased shipping and other operating expenses, necessitated a Chapter 11 filing for the best interests of all of its creditors and stakeholders.
The firm represents Sun LV Catalog, LLC ("Catalog"), an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc., as 97% equity holder and subordinated, secured lender. The firm first represented Catalog in 2006 when it acquired Lillian Vernon. The Chapter 11 case has garnered media attention, in the most recent edition of the Wall Street Journal. Lillian Vernon's filing is emblematic of an increase in bankruptcies by retail companies over the past year, including the firm's representation of Rags Shops, Inc. and its 64 affiliates in a successful Chapter 11 liquidation in Brooklyn last Spring.
Hughes Hubbard lawyers Michael Weinsier, Jim Giddens, and Chris Kiplok began advising Catalog as to strategic concerns in the days and weeks prior to Lillian Vernon's bankruptcy filing, and they and others have been involved in advising Catalog on insolvency, bankruptcy, and financing issues since. The Chapter 11 process is active and ongoing, and according to the debtor may ultimately include a sale or liquidation of some or all of the company.
The firm's team includes Weinsier, Giddens, Kiplok, Jim Pastore, Jeff Margolin, and Anson Frelinghuysen.