March 28, 2025 – Wilmington, Del. — Gastrobar operator Bar Louie has filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, securing a debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing facility that will allow the company to maintain operations at its 31 corporate-owned locations and pursue a going-concern sale.
The filing comes as part of a broader agreement with the company’s existing lender, Bar Louie LLC, to reduce debt and stabilize operations during the restructuring. The DIP facility includes $1.35 million in new money and a $1.125 million roll-up of prepetition debt on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
The DIP facility bears 12.5% simple interest, with a 4% default rate kicker, and is structured as a multiple-draw term loan. The financing also provides for a superpriority administrative expense claim and priming liens on substantially all of the debtors’ assets, subject to a standard carve-out. There are no commitment or exit fees.
Per court filings, the DIP lender, which also holds the debt under the company’s prepetition credit agreement, acquired the agent and lender position in February 2025. The prepetition debt totals approximately $69.6 million. Bar Louie previously closed underperforming locations and is seeking to sell substantially all assets through the bankruptcy process.
Bar Louie is operating under milestones that require plan and disclosure statement filing within 28 days of the petition date, confirmation within 90 days, and an effective date no later than 120 days post-petition. The DIP maturity is keyed to these milestones, among other triggers.
The DIP budget includes a 15% weekly and four-week negative variance cushion, and any overages must be cured through carried-forward unused budget amounts. Mandatory prepayment provisions apply to certain asset sales and financing events.
Adequate protection for the DIP lender includes postpetition liens, a superpriority claim, and waiver of surcharge rights under Section 506(c) and the equities of the case exception under Section 552(b), to be finalized upon entry of the final DIP order.
The company is represented by Raines Feldman Littrell LLP. The case is captioned In re BLH TopCo LLC, et al., Case No. 25-10576 (CTG).
Additional filings and case information are available at Stretto’s website.
