The following is the School Specialty news release dated Friday, May 24, 2013 with a corrected second paragraph:

School Specialty announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware entered an order confirming the company’s second amended joint plan of reorganization. School Specialty said it expects the plan to become effective within the next two weeks.

Under the plan, School Specialty will reduce its total debt obligations by half and enable the company to secure $320 million in new financing.

Further review of the bankruptcy court documents revealed that exit financing in the form of an ABL revolver in the amount of $175 million, with a $20 million sublimit for swing line loans, was provided by a lender group led by Bank of America, as administrative agent and collateral agent. Merrill Lynch and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey acted as lead arrangers and bookrunners.

An additional $125 million in the form of a term loan exit facility was provided by a lender group led by Credit Suisse AG, as administrative agent and collateral agent. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) acted as sole lead arranger and sole bookrunner. ABF Journal apologizes for the error.

Existing common stock will be extinguished under the plan, and no distributions will be made to holders of the company’s current equity. New common stock with voting rights will be issued to the company’s current noteholders and ad hoc DIP lenders. According the filing, the ad hoc DIP lenders were led by U.S. Bank as administrative agent.

Previously on abfjournal.com:

Court Approves School Specialty’s Disclosure Statement, Friday, April 26, 2013