J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (OTCPK:JCPN.Q) has hit a stalemate in talks with bidders and is now proposing selling its assets to top lenders including H/2 Capital Partners LLC, giving them equity in exchange for their debt, the Wall Street Journal reported. "Our lenders are no longer going to be held hostage in negotiations," the company's lawyer Joshua Sussberg said during a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, Texas, the paper reported. The company is planning to negotiate the deal within the next 10 days. Penney was in talks with landlords Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) and Brookfield Property Partners L.P. (NasdaqGS:BPY), but talks failed to produce a bid.

The company filed for bankruptcy protection in May, after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered stores and added to problems caused by years of strategic missteps.