JOANN Receives Court Approval for Prepackaged Financial Recapitalization Plan (2024)

JOANN Inc. (“JOANN” or the “Company”), the nation’s category leaderin sewing and fabrics with one of the largest arts and craftsofferings, today announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for theDistrict of Delaware has confirmed the Company’s Prepackaged JointPlan of Reorganization. JOANN expects to successfully complete itsfinancial restructuring and emerge from the court-supervisedprocess in the coming days.

As reiterated throughout this expedited process, the Company’smore than 800 store locations remain open and JOANN.com continuesto offer supplies for any creative need, and the Company was ableto preserve the jobs of its more than 18,000 Team Members inconnection with this process.

Chris DiTullio, Chief Customer Officer and co-lead of theInterim Office of the CEO, said, “We are pleased to have reachedthis significant milestone less than 40 days after initiating ourcourt-supervised process. We could not have reached this pointwithout the unwavering dedication of our Team Members, thecontinued support of our industry partners and landlords, and thetremendous loyalty and enthusiasm of our customers. JOANN will moveforward with a strengthened financial foundation, allowing us toinvest in customer experience enhancements, our best-in-classproduct assortments, and our more than 18,000 Team Membersnationwide.”

Scott Sekella, JOANN’s Chief Financial Officer and co-lead ofthe Interim Office of the CEO, added, “We are grateful to ourfinancial and industry stakeholders, whose support enabled us tocontinue operating smoothly and move through this process on anexpedited basis. Their investment not only provides us withadditional financial resources, but also reflects their confidencein our Team Members and in our business to seize on theopportunities ahead. With a strengthened balance sheet and improvedliquidity, we are better positioned to work collaboratively withour vendors, business partners and landlords, and ultimately toinspire the creativity in our customers that helps them find theirhappy place.”

In connection with emergence, JOANN will be a private companyowned by certain of the Company’s financial stakeholders andindustry parties.

Additional information regarding JOANN’s financial restructuringis available at JOANNforward.com. Court filings and informationregarding the claims process are available athttps://cases.ra.kroll.com/Joann, by calling the Company’s claimsagent, Kroll, at 844-488-7837 (toll-free in the U.S.) or646-777-2384 (for international calls), or by sending an email tojoanninfo@ra.kroll.com. Additional information can also be found ina Current Report on Form 8-K that the Company will file with theSecurities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.

Advisors

Latham & Watkins LLP is serving as legal counsel to JOANN,with Houlihan Lokey serving as financial advisor and Alvarez &Marsal North America, LLC serving as restructuring advisor.

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP is serving as legal counsel tocertain of the Company’s term lenders, with Lazard serving asfinancial advisor.

About JOANN

For 80 years, JOANN has inspired creativity in the hearts,hands, and minds of its customers. From a single storefront inCleveland, Ohio, the nation’s category leader in sewing and fabricsand one of the fastest growing competitors in the arts and craftsindustry has grown to include 829 store locations across 49 statesand a robust e-commerce business. With the goal of helping everycustomer find their creative Happy Place, JOANN serves as aconvenient single source for all of the supplies, guidance, andinspiration needed to achieve any project or passion.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements withinthe meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of1995. The Company intends such forward-looking statements to becovered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-lookingstatements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933,as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,as amended. Readers can generally identify forward-lookingstatements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as“anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,”“intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “seek,”“vision,” “should,” or the negative thereof or other variationsthereon or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statementsinclude those we make regarding the Company’s ability to continuingoperating its business and implement the restructuring pursuant tothe Chapter 11 cases, including the timetable of completing suchtransactions, if at all.

The preceding list is not intended to be an exhaustive list ofall of the Company’s forward-looking statements. The Company hasbased these forward-looking statements on its current expectations,assumptions, estimates and projections. While the Company believesthese expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections arereasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictionsand involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many ofwhich are beyond the Company’s control. Given these risks anduncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance onsuch forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statementsincluded elsewhere in this press release are not guarantees. Anyforward-looking statement that the Company makes in this pressrelease speaks only as of the date of such statement. Except asrequired by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation toupdate or revise, or to publicly announce any update or revisionto, any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result ofnew information, future events or otherwise after the date of thispress release.

Contacts

Investor Relations:
Tom Filandro
tom.filandro@icrinc.com
646-277-1235

Corporate Communications:
Amanda Hayes
amanda.hayes@joann.com

Michael Freitag / Arielle Rothstein / Viveca Tress / JoycelynBarnett
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
(212) 355-4449