Report: Blockbuster looks at restructuring

New York City Blockbuster has hired a law firm and an investment bank to explore how the chain can cut its $1 billion debt load, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and the bank, Rothschild, will also look at other strategies, such as acquisitions or partnerships, the report said.

Bondholders have also begun talking with potential advisers to move toward reworking Blockbuster’s capital structure, such as converting debt to equity, The Journal said.

The chief executive of Blockbuster, which is struggling to pare huge debt it inherited a decade ago when it was spun off from Viacom, told The Journal that wasn’t contemplating a bankruptcy filing.