Guitar Center Announces Completion of Maturity Extension

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Guitar Center, Inc. (together with its affiliates, “Guitar Center,” or the “Company”) today announced the successful completion of a comprehensive refinancing transaction of its outstanding debt. As part of this transaction, more than 99.9% of holders of the Company’s 8.50% Senior Secured Notes due January 2026 agreed to exchange such notes for new first-lien senior secured notes due January 2029. The transaction meaningfully extends the Company’s debt maturities from 2026 to 2029. The three-year maturity extension is designed to extend the Company’s liquidity runway and provide the time necessary to deliver on its business plan.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Guggenheim Securities, LLC served as legal and financial advisors to Guitar Center. Paul Hastings LLP and Houlihan Lokey, Inc. served as legal and financial advisors to certain investors.

About Guitar Center

Guitar Center is the leading retailer of musical instruments, lessons, repairs and rentals in the U.S. With more than 300 stores across the U.S. and one of the top direct sales websites in the industry, Guitar Center has helped people make music for more than 60 years. Guitar Center also provides customers with various musician-based services, including Guitar Center Lessons, where musicians of all ages and skill levels can learn to play a variety of instruments in many music genres, GC Repairs, an on-site maintenance and repairs service, and GC Rentals, a program offering easy rentals of instruments and other sound reinforcement gear. Additionally, Guitar Center’s sister brands include Music & Arts, which operates more than 250 stores specializing in band & orchestral instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors, parents and students, and Musician’s Friend, a leading direct marketer of musical instruments in the United States. For more information about Guitar Center, please visit guitarcenter.com.