In response to a number of shareholder inquiries, The Great Atlantic &
Pacific Tea Company, Inc. (A&P, NYSE Symbol: GAP) today announced that
the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet and
its liquidity were not impacted by the September 15, 2008 bankruptcy
filing of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ("Lehman”)
and certain of its subsidiaries, including Lehman Brothers International
(Europe) ("Lehman Europe”)
which was placed in administration in the United Kingdom. Lehman is not
a party to the Company’s indebtedness under
its Revolving Credit Agreement with Bank of America N.A. or its Senior
Note obligations. Availability under the Revolving Credit Agreement was
approximately $160 million at the end of the second quarter ended
September 6, 2008 and there are no financial covenants under the Company’s
loan agreements.
In addition, Lehman Europe is party to a 3.2 million share lending
agreement with the Company entered into in connection with the Company’s
Convertible Note financings in December 2007. However, until the Company
has more information regarding the bankruptcy proceedings involving
Lehman and Lehman Europe and can properly assess whether Lehman Europe
will be able to fulfill its obligation to return the borrowed shares,
the Company will continue to consider the shares outstanding for
corporate law purposes only and not for the purpose of computing and
reporting per share results.
Founded in 1859, A&P is one of the nation's first supermarket chains.
The Company operates 446 stores in 8 states and the District of Columbia
under the following trade names: A&P, Waldbaum's, Pathmark, Best
Cellars, The Food Emporium, Super Foodmart, Super Fresh and Food Basics.
This release contains forward-looking statements about the future
performance of the Company, which are based on Management’s
assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available
to it. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information
contained herein. These forward-looking statements are subject to
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from such statements including, but not limited to:
competitive practices and pricing in the food industry generally and
particularly in the Company’s principal
markets; the Company’s relationships with its
employees and the terms of future collective bargaining agreements; the
costs and other effects of legal and administrative cases and
proceedings; the nature and extent of continued consolidation in the
food industry; changes in the financial markets which may affect the
Company’s cost of capital and the ability of
the Company to access capital; supply or quality control problems with
the Company’s vendors; and changes in
economic conditions which affect the buying patterns of the Company’s
customers; the failure to successfully integrate Pathmark’s
business and operations and realize synergies in the expected time frame.
