J. C. Penney Company Inc announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, J. C. Penney Corporation, Inc., has completed a new three-year $750 million bank credit facility. The new facility replaces a $1.2 billion credit facility that was scheduled to mature in April 2010 and provides further strength to the Company's liquidity position.
The Company had not utilized the $1.2 billion facility for cash borrowings, and with the strength of the Company's current liquidity position no borrowings are expected under the new facility other than to provide support for the issuance of letters of credit.
Effective today, the facility may be used for general corporate purposes and will mature in April 2012. In addition, the facility's financial covenant thresholds for both the leverage ratio and fixed charge coverage ratio have been set in alignment with the Company's 2009 operating plan and adjusted to remove the impact of non-cash pension expense. The facility is secured by the Company's inventory, which can be released upon attainment of certain credit rating levels.
The arrangement of the credit facility was co-led by J. P. Morgan Securities Inc., Bank of America, Barclays Capital and Wachovia Bank, N.A., a Wells Fargo Company.