National + Retail | June 15, 2021

Washington Prime Seeks Bankruptcy Protection Following COVID Closures

Joining other shopping center operators that declared bankruptcy following last year’s shutdown amid the pandemic, Washington Prime Group (WPG) said Sunday night that it had filed for Chapter 11 protection at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston. WPG has executed a restructuring support agreement (RSA) with creditors, led by SVPGlobal, holding 73% of its outstanding secured corporate debt.

Columbus, OH-based WPG secured $100 million in debtor-in-possession financing, and said that it will be business as usual at its approximately 100 shopping centers throughout the proceedings.

In a statement, WPG cited the “significant challenges” posed by the pandemic. CEO Lou Conforti said the financial restructuring would enable WPG “to right-size its balance sheet and position the company for success going forward.”

The RSA provides for deleveraging of WPG’s balance sheet by nearly $950 million via equitization of unsecured notes and a $190-million paydown of its revolving credit and term loan facilities.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).