Salus Capital Partners provided a $9.5 million debtor-in-possession (dip) credit facility to Bakers Footwear Group, a specialty retailer of moderately priced fashion footwear for young women. The DIP financing will be used by Bakers to provide working capital as the company operates under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

“We are pleased to provide a DIP facility to Bakers that will enable the Company to move forward and execute a strategic and successful restructuring plan,” said Daniel F. O’Rourke, chief credit officer of Salus Capital. “Thirteen years ago, the principals of Salus provided Bakers with its first business loan and we are delighted to be partnering with Peter and his team again to support them in this time of transition.”

“As we mapped the future of our company this fall, we soon realized that we would need a lending partner that deeply understood our business, could act quickly and would take a creative approach to a difficult financing situation,” said Peter Edison, chairman and chief executive officer of Bakers Footwear Group. “Salus offered us a solution that no other lender was willing to offer. Their flexibility and willingness to take a measured risk, coupled with their unique ability to close within weeks of reaching a signed term sheet, gave us exactly what we needed to restructure our business and move forward. I don’t know of any other lender that could bring that kind of value to our company.” 

“Salus worked creatively and expeditiously to craft a financing solution that averted an imminent liquidation of the entire business,” said James H. Cullen, chief restructuring advisor of Bakers.  “And, while we recognize there are significant challenges ahead, the financing from Salus allows us the time and flexibility needed to put a thoughtful plan in place to reorganize the business and emerge from bankruptcy.”

Bakers Footwear Group is a national, mall-based, specialty retailer of distinctive footwear and accessories for young women. The company’s merchandise includes private label and national brand dress, casual and sport shoes, boots, sandals and accessories. The Company currently operates 63 stores nationwide.