Furniture Brands Strikes $600 Million Credit Deal

July 4, 2007  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on July 2007 Furniture Brands International, St. Louis, has struck a deal for a proposed revolving credit facility of up to $600 million, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing Tuesday. The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission states the company entered into a commitment letter June 22 with J.P. Morgan Securities and JPMorgan Chase Bank.

The proceeds of the proposed credit facility, which is subject to closing conditions, would be used to refinance the company’s existing credit facility and for general corporate purposes.

In May, FBI officials said the company was seeking to amend its credit facilities to gain less restrictive terms.

In June, Moody’s Investors Service, New York, announced that it had downgraded FBI’s rating from Ba1 to Ba3, Moody’s officials also said it will continue to review the company for possible a further downgrade, citing concerns over continuing softness across all of FBI’s brands.

Also in June, Furniture Brands announced it expects sales in its second quarter to be down by 12 percent, an improvement over an earlier forecast that predicted a 15 percent decline. It expects to report second-quarter earnings August 1. In April, the company announced the elimination of 330 jobs to produce savings of about $13 million a year.