American Apparel申請破產保護 | American Apparel files for bankruptcy

American Apparel申請破產保護

美國時尚零售商American Apparel已申請第11章破產保護，原因包括3.11億美元債務、銷售額下滑，以及一些企業之間的訴訟官司。

American Apparel洛杉磯公司於今（2015）年10月5日表示，該公司已經與95％的擔保貸款人達成重組協議以減少其債務。據稱，這將使該公司實施“策略轉型”，以“振興”企業及品牌，同時保持該公司在美國的生產經營。

該協議將大約2億美元的債券轉換成重組後公司股權，其債務由3億美元減少到不超過1.35億美元，每年可減少2千萬美元的利息支付。

作為協議的一部分，American Apparel已申請第11章破產保護。該公司表示，預估將在6個月內完成重組。

在該公司創始人及前執行長Dov Charney下台約9個月後，今年2月上任的該公司執行長Paula Schneider表示：「透過改善我們的財務基礎，我們可望重新調整我們的業務，努力執行我們的轉型策略，我們期望創造新的相關產品，推出新的設計及行銷計畫，投資新店面，發展我們的電子商務業務，創造新的行銷活動，這將有助於推動我們的業務向前發展」。

自從去（2014）年公司指控他不當行為而解僱他，Charney已對該公司提出多起法律訴訟。American Apparel反控告他違反了他與該公司的停職協議。

然而，在今年第二季虧損擴大及銷量下降後，該公司仍堅持專注於讓品牌成長的各項正確處理程序。

該公司在Schneider帶領下，也不斷加強其管理團隊，最近任命Thoryn Stephens作為第一個首席數位長，並任命Cynthia Erland為高級行銷副總裁。

Conlumino零售分析師執行長Neil Saunders認為：「三頭馬車使銷售迅速下降，資產負債表充滿了債務和一些日常管理危機」，終於證明了青少年的零售商過多。

「在我們看來，破產保護是American Apparel唯一可行的選擇。保護將暫時阻止任何未決的訴訟，這將使管理階層把重點放在其轉型計畫，而不是法庭的奮戰」。

「可以推論，最大的輸家將是創始人Dov Charney，我們不會僅看到他訴訟程序的拖延，也會發現，破產將讓股東權益全部歸零，其中包括創始人Charney，其在公司的持股（目前價值約820萬美元）」。

【新聞來源：台灣紡拓會】

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American Apparel files for bankruptcy

American Apparel has filed for bankruptcy protection after persistent plunging sales at the the scandal-ridden teenage fashion company.

The Los Angeles-based company, which makes all its clothes in the US, said it had reached a restructuring deal with 95% of its secured lenders to reduce its debts.

Lenders will write off about $200m (£131m) of bonds in exchange for equity in the company, reducing its debt to no more than $135m and cutting annual interest payments by $20m.

As part of the deal, American Apparel will file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company said in a statement.

American Apparel started out as an idea that its founder, Dov Charney, had in his Tufts University dorm room in 1989. It expanded to sell US-manufactured clothing from 260 shops in 19 countries, attracting notoriety for explicit advertising. Then followed a string of increasingly lurid allegations against Charney, undermining any lingering glamour from the company’s image. He was alleged to have made an 18-year-old sales clerk his “sex slave”, masturbated repeatedly in the presence of a female journalist sent to profile him and sent explicit texts to employees.

The 46-year-old Canadian, who once held a meeting wearing only a sock – not on his foot – has been cited in several sexual harassment lawsuits brought by former employees.

However, it was mainly financial rather than sexual matters that led to the company’s downfall as American Apparel failed to keep up with its young consumers’ tastes. Charney’s behaviour arguably sapped the company’s morale and took its sexualised image too far for young shoppers.

Charney had built American Apparel into one of the world’s most admired fashion brands, trading on an image that combined hipster chic and the sexual mores of the 1970s.

He won plaudits for his “Made in America” policy, which shunned the sweatshops of Asia to support US manufacturing. He paid double the minimum wage to his mainly immigrant workforce and provided health insurance and free international telephone calls.

But changing fashion trends and the financial crisis made young shoppers less keen to pay £30 for one of Charney’s plain T-shirts. Sales slumped and debts mounted.

American Apparel’s board fired Charney as chairman in June 2014 and sacked him as chief executive in December for sexual misconduct. The board highlighted the rising cost of defending the company against lawsuits against Charney and said potential backers would not deal with a firm with the self-confessed “dirty guy” at the helm.

American Apparel’s bankruptcy had looked likely for some time after it suffered mounting losses. The company reported a $19.4m loss in the second quarter of this year – its 10th consecutive quarterly loss – as sales dropped 17%.


American Apparel CEO Dov Charney fired: the fall of a merchant of sleaze
 Read more
“This restructuring will enable American Apparel to become a stronger, more vibrant company,” chief executive Paula Schneider said in a statement early on Monday.

The company listed assets and liabilities of between $100m and $500m in its bankruptcy filing.

Original Article: TheGuardian