Borders is reported to be near to swinging a deal to stay alive, according to a Business Week/Bloomberg report by Chris Burritt and Matt Townsend. According to the report, issued at 4:30 Tuesday afternoon, the company is said to be “close to arranging financing that would allow it to repay a loan due this week, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Borders will probably close on the financing to repay the loan to Pershing Square Capital Management LP on April 1, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.”

A Standard & Poor’s analyst, however, opines that “Their long-term viability is still up in the air,” and the financing deal would only stave off bankruptcy concerns for “the very near term.”