Kellwood Company is a major US retailer of women's apparel; its brands include such well-known names a Baby Phat, XOXO and Sag Harbor. But Kellwood is now learning a difficult lesson: when it comes to negotiating with Deutsche Bank, it faces the same difficulties as tens of thousands Americans who have lost their homes, or are losing their homes through foreclosures initiated by Deutsche Bank. For the bank apparently does not negotiate in good faith:
Kellwood Co. said Monday it is disappointed in the change of heart
by bondholder Deutsche Bank AG (DB), which it said had supported a debt
exchange before changing its mind on Friday, but Kellwood said it is
still negotiating with the bank to try to get breathing room on a
rapidly approaching debt maturity.
The company, one of the U.S.'s largest apparel manufacturers, could
be forced to file for bankruptcy after it failed to reach an agreement
with its bondholders, people familiar with the situation told The Wall
Street Journal last week.
[…]Kellwood Chief Executive Michael Kramer said Monday the company was
"surprised and disappointed by Deutsche Bank's current position as they
were on our bondholder steering committee, helped structure the deal
and told us all along that they supported it."
Kellwood is performing well, is profitable, and has a positive cash flow. It needs some breathing room with respect to debt service, but it appears that Deutsche Bank is determined to force it into bankruptcy, just as it has forced thousands of Americans out of their homes.
Meanwhile, American taxpayers have bailed out Deutsche Bank with more than $11 billion by making the bank whole on Credit Default Swaps it had entered into with AIG.
