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 […]
Finance
Borders Gets More Time To Reorganize
In federal bankruptcy court Wednesday morning, Judge Martin Glenn agreed to extend the exclusive time period in which Borders can come up with a plan for emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy or selling the company’s assets. As previously reported, Borders would have run up against a June 16 deadline to file a plan under an exclusivity period, which has now been extended to October 14, with time to solicit votes on such a plan pushed back to December 13. Borders representative Andrew K. Glenn explained in court that a sale is now the focus of their efforts rather than reorganization, […]
Gores Group Reportedly “In Discussions” to Buy Over 200 Borders Stores
LA-based private-equity firm Gores Group “is in discussions to purchase” over 200 of Borders’ 405 operating stores, the WSJ reports, citing “people familiar with the matter, in a deal that would keep the bookstore chain operating as a going concern.” Those people also insist other unidentified parties are also in purchase discussions with Borders. And they say the stores and related assets could sell for approximately $200 million. (Though not stated in the article, it implies that the other 200 or so stores would be severed from Borders, perhaps without a buyer or the infrastructure and assets to continue operating.) […]
REDGroup Fails to Reach Deal With Creditors, Will Stop Taking Stock on June 1
The bankruptcy saga of REDGroup Retail appears to be in its closing stages thanks to a number of developments over the weekend. Administrators Ferrier Hodgson failed to reach an agreement with creditors on a reorganization plan, laid off an additional 34 employees at REDGroup’s Melbourne headquarters, and on Monday informed suppliers that the company’s remaining stores in Australia would not accept stock after June 1, with any orders made on books not yet delivered should be cancelled. In a letter to landlords and suppliers, REDGroup’s administrators said they had hoped to find a way to keep the remaining 9 Borders […]
Creditors Oppose Borders Bid For More Time, and Seattle’s Best Objects to Contract Cancellation
Borders’ unsecured creditors committee objected to the bookseller’s bid for more time to come up with a plan to exit Chapter 11 in a court filing Thursday afternoon on several grounds. They are “gravely concerned” that extending the exclusivity period up to 120 days “could be detrimental to the interests of the debtors’ general unsecured creditors” and would only work if the committee itself could have the right to “file and solicit a plan at any time” (the unstated purpose of which would likely be to ask for liquidation, though they cite cases in which creditors did draft their own […]
So Ron Burkle Thinks Barnes & Noble Stock Will Rise
Investor Ron Burkle has been noticeably quiet since Barnes & Noble announced the interest received last week from Liberty Media in buying the company, but it turns out he was talking with his wallet. In the required SEC filing, Burkle disclosed that his Yucaipa companies purchased another 603,000 shares yesterday, paying $18.489 a share. Though Burkle is restricted by the company’s poison pill from acquiring more than 20 percent of shares, he had a small amount of room to buy. According to the filing, his 11,894,213 shares comprise 19.74 percent of shares outstanding. He could still buy another 150,000 shares or […]