Penney’s lenders to make bid for chain

It’s close to crunch time for embattled J.C. Penney.

Discussions by three potential bidders, including Simon Property Group and Brookfield, to acquire the bankrupt retailer have hit a “stalemate,” reported CNBC. Penney’s top lenders, including H/2 Capital Partners, now plan to make a credit bid to own Penney as a standalone company, attorney Joshua Sussberg of Kirkland & Ellis said during a Monday bankruptcy court hearing, according to the report. 

“Our lenders are no longer going to be held hostage in negotiations with third parties,” Sussberg said. “While it is possible that one of the bidders comes back into the transaction, we can no longer stand idly by and allow for negotiating postures to stand in the way of 70,000 jobs and our vendor base.”

Penney has announced more than 150 store closures since it filed for bankruptcy in May, including its location in Manhattan’s busy Herald Square. 

If the lender deal goes through, J.C. Penney would likely emerge as a much smaller company than it is today, USA Today said. 

"We are going to do everything humanly possible to ensure that J.C. Penney will be around for the foreseeable future," Sussberg said in the USA Today report.