IBC: Court confirms plan of reorganization

Kansas City / MO. (bw) Interstate Bakeries Corporation (IBC) announced that the Bankruptcy Court in Kansas City, Missouri has confirmed its amended joint plan of reorganization. The Court ruled that IBC had met all of the statutory requirements to confirm its plan.

IBC plans to emerge from Chapter 11 within the next several weeks concurrently with the funding of its previously announced plan funding commitments. The company said that it will be focusing all of its efforts on finalizing all documentation for the exit financing contemplated by the plan funding commitments and satisfying the remaining conditions to closing contemplated under the amended joint plan of reorganization and the funding commitments. No assurance can be given that the plan funding commitments will be closed and, accordingly, that the amended joint plan of reorganization will become effective.

«Today marks an important day in our company´s future. After a challenging four-year restructuring we are extremely pleased that we are in a position to be able to emerge from Chapter 11 as a standalone company», said Chief Executive Officer Craig Jung. «Going forward, IBC will be well positioned upon emergence to compete in the market place with sufficient cash to fund operations, a renewed focus on driving innovation and reinvigorating our brands, and the flexibility to test, qualify, and implement new methods of distribution to meet the changing needs of our customers».

Mr. Jung emphasized that «IBC could not have reached this important milestone in the reorganization without the hard work and dedication of every IBC employee nationwide. We owe our employees, on whom tremendous demands have been placed to make the new, reorganized IBC a reality, a sincere and heartfelt thanks for a job well done. The support and vote of confidence we received from our pre-petition lenders, 100 percent of whom voted in favor of the Plan, and Ripplewood were critical in our ability to achieve plan confirmation today and position us to emerge as a standalone company. Our customers and vendors have also stood with us through this extremely difficult time, and for their loyalty, we are extremely grateful», he said.

IBC also noted that 100 percent of local bargaining units have ratified modifications to the collective bargaining agreements that are a condition of the plan funding commitments. «We greatly appreciate the critical role union leadership has played in the ratification process», Jung said. «We will be working hard to satisfy all of the remaining conditions to the effective date of the plan, paving the way for our emergence from Chapter 11 as soon as possible».

About: Interstate Bakeries Corporation (IBC) is one of the United States´ largest commercial bakers and distributors of fresh-baked bread and sweet goods. The company is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. IBC filed for bankruptcy protection on September 22, 2004, citing liquidity issues resulting from declining sales, a high fixed-cost structure, excess industry capacity, rising employee healthcare and pension costs, and higher costs for ingredients and energy. IBC continues to operate its business in the ordinary course as a debtor-in-possession.