A&P Files For Bankruptcy

So long to one of America's oldest and most well known supermarkets. At last in current form. Great A&P Tea GAP announced last night it was filing for Chapter 11 reorganization to facilitate financial and operational restructuring. A&P was once the country's largest grocery store, and operated 400 stores under brands such as A&P, Waldbaum's and Super Fresh. It has more than $1 billion in assets and more thn $1 billion in debt. As of September 11, it carried $3.2 billion in debt, but more recent numbers are not available. JP Morgan Chase & Co JPM is providing the "DIP" financing, also known as debtor-in-possession financing. It's expected to be approved today at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The financing will be $800 million. GAP has struggled since it purchased Pathmark in 2007 for $1.4 billion. The Montvale, New Jersey-based company had nearly $9 billion in sales in its fiscal year to February 2010. Shares plunged on Friday when news first came out from Bloomberg about the supermarket potentially filing for bankruptcy. Shares closed at 93 cents on Friday.