(Bloomberg) -- Bankrupt pharmacy chain Rite Aid Corp. agreed to begin court-supervised mediation with lower ranking creditors, including groups that blame the company for contributing to America’s opioid addiction crisis.

The company, backed by senior lenders, will negotiate with unsecured creditors about how to end the retailer’s insolvency case and on a potential loan package to fund the company’s exit from bankruptcy, Rite Aid attorney Aparna Yenamandra said in court Tuesday. The company will try reach a deal before the end of January, Yenamandra said.

The pharmacy chain held a video court hearing Tuesday to ask US Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan to approve a $3.25 billion loan package to refinance older debt and to help pay for the company’s reorganization case. Kaplan said he will sign an order approving the financing later this week after the company makes adjustments to the wording of the loan proposal documents. 

Rite Aid is trying to sell itself while under court protection in order to pay creditors owed billions of dollars. Should the company fail to find a buyer willing to keep at least part of the chain open, Rite Aid would be forced to liquidate. When retailers liquidate in bankruptcy, lower-ranking creditors are typically paid far less than if the company successfully reorganizes.

“To be successful parties have to be available and talk to one another in good faith,” said Arik Preis, a lawyer who represents the groups that are suing Rite Aid for its role in the opioid epidemic.

Like other US pharmacies, Rite Aid has grappled with more than 1,600 opioid-related lawsuits, according to court papers. The high cost of defending itself and the potential for losing some of the suits put pressure on the company’s liquidity before it filed for bankruptcy in October.

Rite Aid will be negotiating with two court-supervised committees: a panel of unsecured creditors made up of lower-ranking debt holders like suppliers, and a committee of people suing the company for opioid-related expenses and other claims. The latter group is primarily made up of opioid claimants, and includes individual victims, an emergency room physician, a New York-based hospital and a national group of insurance firms.

Other major pharmacy chains have paid out billions of dollars to settle opioid disputes. Last year, CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. agreed to pay around $10 billion to resolve thousands of lawsuits accusing the pharmacy owners of mishandling opioid painkillers. Rite Aid hasn’t paid a similar settlement.

Rite Aid filed for court protection with plans to sell its valuable pharmacy benefits manager to MedImpact Healthcare Systems for $575 million, unless a higher bid comes in. Rite Aid is also trying to attract an offer for the entire chain, or for big chunks of the company. Often in bankruptcy, retail chains sell their stores in clusters if they cannot attract one big offer.

The case is Rite Aid Corp., 23-18993, US Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.

(Adds court ruling on loan in third paragraph.)

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