A 412-store wind-down that paid unsecured creditors in full

Harbourline entered a court-supervised process in November with 412 leased locations, $610M of inventory at cost and a lender group that wanted certainty before it wanted upside.

The estate needed a number it could underwrite the plan against, and it needed the stores dark before the January rent cycle.

We guaranteed 84% of cost and took the execution risk. Pricing cadence was set per region rather than per chain, so the coastal stores discounted three weeks behind the interior ones.

The lease designation rights ran in parallel: 96 leases were marketed while the stores were still trading, which is the only window in which a below-market lease is worth anything.

Recovery landed at 91% of cost against an 84% guarantee. The lease sales returned a further $63M, and unsecured creditors were paid in full — rare enough that the plan is now cited in the trade press.