With Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal both reporting that Borders could file for bankruptcy next week, publishers have started speculating about why the process will take that long. There has been little movement in publishers’ negative perception of Borders’s financial proposal, and although Borders is believed to be in a final round of negotiations, one large publisher said the communication with Borders “is terrible.” Many publishers believe that a Chapter 11 filing is the best chance Borders has to survive in some form.
One publisher speculated that the delay is due to Borders getting its debtor-in-possession financing in place. The so-called DIP provides companies with the necessary cash to operate under Chapter 11. Borders must also make sure publishers will provide credit after the Chapter 11 filing, something that a publisher said “is no given.”
The growing reports of the likelihood of a bankruptcy have sent Borders's stock into freefall. After closing at 73 cents on Monday, the price fell to 47 cents Tuesday and was below 40 cents in Wednesday morning trading.
