Fleming Companies, Inc. announced this morning that the company has filed a motion in bankruptcy court seeking approval for a $150 million financing facility, and the “creation of a trade lien on company assets to provide further financial assurance and protection to trade vendors and to restore trade terms from the vendors who participate in the trade lien program.”
Pete Willmott, Interim President and CEO, said, "Fleming is focused on continuing to stabilize its operations and ensuring timely and reliable distribution to customers. We recognize that this can be accomplished only through building liquidity for our company, and providing further financial assurances and protections to trade vendors, who are key to our ability to effectively serve customers.
"The actions that we are taking are intended to provide our company with a solid foundation on which to move forward in this process - both immediately and into the longer run - and we are hopeful that we will gain the court's approvals of this important motion."
The motion is scheduled to be heard by the Court in a hearing scheduled for April 21, 2003.
Pete Willmott, Interim President and CEO, said, "Fleming is focused on continuing to stabilize its operations and ensuring timely and reliable distribution to customers. We recognize that this can be accomplished only through building liquidity for our company, and providing further financial assurances and protections to trade vendors, who are key to our ability to effectively serve customers.
"The actions that we are taking are intended to provide our company with a solid foundation on which to move forward in this process - both immediately and into the longer run - and we are hopeful that we will gain the court's approvals of this important motion."
The motion is scheduled to be heard by the Court in a hearing scheduled for April 21, 2003.
- KC's View:
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The question is whether trade vendors will feel as assured and protected as Fleming says it wants them to feel.
We’ll see. As Ronald Reagan used to say, “Trust. But verify.”
