A&P DSD/trade creditors ask court to appoint official committee

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Feb. 18 - A group of Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Inc. (A&P) creditors asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to appoint an official committee of direct store delivery and trade creditors for the company's bankruptcy case, according to a Friday court filing.

The creditors requesting the committee appointment include Frito-Lay, Inc., Kraft Foods, Inc., PepsiCo/Frito, Nestle USA, Bimbo Bakeries USA, Kellogg North America, Wise Foods, Inc., Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and Campbell Soup Co.

According to the motion, "the DSD/trade creditors have mutual interests that are clearly distinct from those of the unsecured noteholders, pension funds and landlords dominating the official committee of unsecured creditors."

Unlike those creditors, the creditors said they continue to extend credit terms to A&P after bankruptcy, providing the company with needed cash flow without the benefit of critical vendor protection.

As a result, the creditors said they face very significant exposure, unlike unsecured creditors who are incurring no post-bankruptcy exposure.

In addition, the creditors said they are different than the unsecured creditors because they will continue to be key partners to A&P after it emerges from bankruptcy.

"The requesting creditors' products are found in every aisle of the debtors' grocery stores," the creditors said in the motion. "Without their product, there is no supermarket."

A hearing is scheduled for March 8.

Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea, a Montvale, N.J.-based operator of supermarkets, filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 12. Its Chapter 11 case number is 10-25459.

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