JCPenney Gets Goldman Sachs Loan

JCPenney Co. Inc. (Plano, Texas) has received a $1.75 billion loan commitment from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (New York), secured by the retailer’s real estate holdings and other assets, according to Bloomberg News.

Returning ceo Myron Ullman said the proceeds of the loan will be used for working capital and to discharge the company’s high-interest notes due in 2023.

Since returning to the company three weeks ago, said Bloomberg reporter Matt Townsend, Ullman has focused on shoring up the company’s finances, starting by drawing $850 million from its credit line.

Earlier this week, the company got an infusion of capital when billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros took a 7.9 percent stake worth nearly $265 million.

The cash-strapped retailer had been in the midst of a significant removel of its home departments in about 500 stores that account for about 15 percent of its selling square footage. The opening of some of these sections has been postponed because of construction delays, and a media event to unveil them was pushed back three weeks to June 6, 2013. At the same time, four senior executives who led the renovations left the company last week.