(Bloomberg) -- Rite Aid Corp. is nearing a deal with key bondholders and other creditor groups that will allow the pharmacy chain to avoid a liquidation, according to people with knowledge of the matter. 

The deal calls for junior bondholders to take over the struggling pharmacy chain and exit Chapter 11 protection as a going concern, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the private accord. The so-called global settlement would incorporate deals with a committee of tort claimants and its asset-based lenders, the people said. 

Rite Aid lawyer Aparna Yenamandra said during a Tuesday court hearing that the company has reached agreement “on all key economic points” with its primary financial stakeholders, including its banks, junior bondholders, the US Justice Department, McKesson Corp. and committees representing unsecured creditors, opioid victims and others with tort claims.

Details about the deal weren’t disclosed in court. Rite Aid and various stakeholders have been negotiating in a confidential mediation overseen by a former bankruptcy judge. Still, Rite Aid lawyers said an open issue must be resolved between the company, banks and bondholders but that the retailer is confident the undisclosed issue can be resolved in the coming days as parties document the proposed agreement.

The proposal is a coup for Rite Aid, which has repeatedly pushed back a key deadline in its bankruptcy as it sought to resolve major barriers to its exit from Chapter 11 protection. It has been closing unprofitable stores in bankruptcy and already sold its pharmacy benefits manager unit, Elixir, to MedImpact Healthcare Systems.

Previously: Rite Aid Hires Liquidators as Talks With Possible Buyers Drag On

A representative for Rite Aid earlier declined to comment on the deal. 

The company is due to next appear in bankruptcy court on Thursday in New Jersey. 

--With assistance from Jonathan Randles.

(Adds details from hearing in paragraphs three and four.)

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