As previously reported, on May 15, 2020, J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (“J. C. Penney” or the “Company”) and certain of its subsidiaries (together with the Company, the “Debtors”) commenced voluntary cases under chapter 11 of title 11 of the United States Code (the “Chapter 11 Cases”) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “Bankruptcy Court”). Prior to the commencement of the Chapter 11 Cases, on May 15, 2020, the Company and its subsidiaries (together with the Company, the “Company Parties”) entered into a Restructuring Support Agreement (together with all exhibits and schedules thereto, and as amended to date, the “RSA”) with members of an ad hoc group of lenders and noteholders (the “Ad Hoc Group”).
On September 10, 2020, the Company entered into a non-binding letter-of-intent (“LOI”) with the Ad Hoc Group, Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Group that is generally consistent with the framework of the restructuring process contemplated in the RSA. The LOI is non-binding and provides no guarantee that a transaction will be completed. The terms of any potential transaction are subject to definitive documentation that must be agreed upon by all parties and subsequently approved by the Bankruptcy Court. The parties to the LOI have been, and continue to be, in discussions regarding the transactions contemplated by the LOI. To facilitate such discussions, the Company provided members of the Ad Hoc Group with certain non-public information subject to confidentiality agreements (collectively, the “NDAs”). Pursuant to the NDAs, the Company agreed to publicly disclose certain information (the “Cleansing Material”) upon the occurrence of certain events set forth in the NDAs. A copy of the Cleansing Material is attached to this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 99.1.
The Cleansing Material was not prepared with a view toward public disclosure and should not be relied upon to make an investment decision with respect to J. C. Penney. The Cleansing Material should not be regarded as an indication that the Company Parties or any third party consider the Cleansing Material to be a reliable prediction of future events, and the Cleansing Material should not be relied upon as such. The Cleansing Material includes certain values for illustrative purposes only and such values are not the result of, and do not represent, actual valuations, estimates, forecasts or projections of the Company Parties or any third party and should not be relied upon as such. Neither the Company Parties nor any third party has made or makes any representation to any person regarding the accuracy of any Cleansing Material or undertakes any obligation to publicly update the Cleansing Material to reflect circumstances existing after the date when the Cleansing Material was prepared or conveyed or to reflect the occurrence of future events, even in the event that any or all of the assumptions underlying the Cleansing Material are shown to be in error.
The information disclosed in this Item 7.01, including Exhibit 99.1, is being furnished and shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that Section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, regardless of any general incorporation language in such a filing.
Additional Information on the Chapter 11 Cases
Court filings and information about the Chapter 11 Cases can be found at a website maintained by the Debtors’ claim agent, Prime Clerk, at http://www.cases.primeclerk.com/JCPenney.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
The Company has included statements in this Current Report on Form 8-K that may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “expect” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based only on the Company’s current assumptions and views of future events and financial performance. They are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of the Company’s control that may cause the Company’s actual results to be materially different from planned or expected results. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks attendant to the bankruptcy process, including the Company’s ability to obtain court approval from the Bankruptcy Court with respect to motions or other requests made to the Bankruptcy Court throughout the course of the Chapter 11 Cases; the ability of the Company to negotiate, develop, confirm and consummate a plan of reorganization; the effects of the Chapter 11 Cases, including increased legal and other professional costs necessary to execute the Company’s reorganization, on the Company’s liquidity (including
