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This week marks two deadlines set by lenders for Imperial. A 30-day grace period that gave Imperial Sugar time to figure out a way to make a $12.2 million interest payment on a $250 million loan expires. Another extension, which gave the company since the end of its fiscal year Sept. 30 to meet financial targets tied to its loans, ends.

Imperial officials would not say late last week whether they had met those deadlines, only that negotiations with the lenders continue.

Since Dec. 15, when Imperial Sugar officials announced the company had failed to make the scheduled interest payment, shareholders have speculated about the company's future when the deadlines arrived.

A company restructuring appears to be in Imperial's future. Company officials are still tight-lipped, though, about whether that means filing for bankruptcy or what will become of Savannah Foods and its nearly 700 employees.

Much of Imperial Sugar's debts are a result of its aggressive acquisitions, including that of Savannah Foods and Industries in 1997. As of Sept. 30, Imperial reported owing $456.4 million to banks and other large lending institutions, while losing $34.6 million last year.

William F. Schwer, general counsel for the company, has continued to describe negotiations with lenders as ``good and ongoing.''

Imperial officials say they remain hopeful that a solution to the company's problems can be worked out without filing for bankruptcy, but their options have been whittled by poorly performing stock prices on Wall Street, downgraded bond ratings and a glut of sugar depressing prices.

A national sugar surplus of nearly 800 million tons has caused Wall Street investors to lose confidence in the sugar industry.

Imperial Sugar's stock price has languished at or below $1 for months on the American Stock Exchange - down from $8 two years ago.

Those problems may force the company to restructure its debt with its lenders, said Jan Jankowski, associate dean of the Savannah State University College of Business. He is also an attorney and inactive Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

``They're not so much looking for an infusion of cash,'' Mr. Jankowski said. ``Once they've gotten this far, no reputable lender is going to lend them money.''

What Imperial Sugar needs, Mr. Jankowski said, is time to pay down its enormous debt. Selling some viable assets could help. Among its most viable assets is Savannah Foods, which was among the few profitable operations for Imperial Sugar last year.

So far, though, Mr. Schwer said, the only deal Imperial Sugar publicly is considering is the sale of its Michigan Sugar subsidiary to beet farmers.

Michigan farmers want to buy four processing plants from Imperial Sugar and run them as a cooperative. Tired of having their livelihoods put on the line because of actions on Wall Street, farmers have for years been trying to take control of the processing plants they serve, said Luther Markwart, executive vice president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association.

``If (farmers) can buy their facilities then it takes the independent, outside investor out of the mix,'' Mr. Markwart said. ``With the outside investor in the mix, companies have to find ways to appease these investors.''

Randon Wilson, a Salt Lake City, Utah, attorney representing the Michigan farmers, said talks with Imperial Sugar stalled because of the company's financial woes.

While Imperial Sugar faces its loan deadlines, Mr. Wilson said, the farmers face their own. The spring growing season is just around the corner, and they need to know who to contract with or if their contracts will survive the season.

``We don't know if bankruptcy would make it easier or harder,'' Mr. Wilson said. ``But it would open the way for negotiations.''

While cash from such sales will help, Mr. Jankowski says the best way for Imperial Sugar to turn around is to get an extended grace period from lenders while continuing to bring in money from operations such as Savannah Foods.

Whether through an agreement with lenders or by filing for bankruptcy, which would provide the company protection from creditors claiming Imperial Sugar has defaulted on loans, restructuring appears to be coming.

Shareholders' best hope for recouping their investments is for Imperial Sugar to avoid bankruptcy, Mr. Jankowski said. When a company files for bankruptcy, stockholders are at the end of what is often a long line of creditors waiting to get a piece of whatever money is left. But the banks that loaned Imperial Sugar money also want the company to avoid bankruptcy. The banks would have to write off the loans as bad debt and answer to their own shareholders.

Imperial Sugar executives also might have some explaining to do at their next shareholders' meeting. Included in the company's year-end report - the same one that shows the $34.6 million loss in 2000 - is a list of bonuses and raises for company executives.

In the corporate world, a bonus is typically issued to executives for meeting short-term goals, said James Dulebohn, assistant professor of management at Georgia State University College of Business. Bonuses are a way of rewarding executives for a company's strong stock market or financial performance.

``Regardless of what their pay is, they should not be getting a bonus because of what it represents,'' Mr. Dulebohn said. ``The company is on the brink of bankruptcy.''

Savannah FoodsSavannah Foods was acquired by Imperial Sugar in 1997 for $749.9 million. Savannah Foods employs about 700 people locally and is one of the company's better-performing facilities, although the company does not release financial information for individual operations. Savannah Foods packages sugar under the Dixie Crystals brand name.