The Wall Street Journal says that private-equity firm Najafi–the company willing to take Bookspan/Direct Brands off of Bertelsmann’s hands–has joined negotiations as a potential acquirer of some significant portion of Borders 265 superstores. A prospective buyer would acquire Borders’ web site and customer lists, reaffirming our initial inference that a buyer for the superstores would take all of the significant operations, leaving the remaining superstores and Waldenbooks outlets unable to function. The Journal’s source adds that “Borders hopes to soon select one of the suitors as a so-called stalking-horse bidder that would make an offer others must top in the bankruptcy auction,” with an auction expected for later this summer. The article does not contain any update on sums being considered by the bidders, so it’s still possible that the bids are worth less than the inventory already owned by Borders.
WSJ