Blockbuster Inc. has bids from Douglas County-based Dish Network Corp., SK Telecom Co. and investor Carl Icahn to compete with a $290 million offer from a group of lenders at a bankruptcy auction of the movie-rental chain, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The bids are slightly higher than the offer from the group of secured creditors, said the person, who declined to be named because the talks are private.
Corporate liquidators Gordon Brothers Group LLC and Hilco Merchant Resources LLC also are among the bidders, the person said.
The bankruptcy auction is set for Monday.
The company’s lawyers and advisers are reviewing the bids, as are lawyers and advisers for the secured creditors, the person said.
The first $125 million of a successful bidder’s money would go to pay the most senior secured creditors in full, leaving little for other creditors unless an offer is larger than expected, the person said.
Icahn didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment; Gordon chief executive Michael Frieze did not either. Francie Bauer, a Dish spokeswoman, declined to comment, as did Hilco executive vice president Richard Kaye.
SK Telecom CEO Ha Sung- Min didn’t immediately return an e-mail requesting comment outside regular business hours in Seoul. The company said earlier Friday that it may bid for Blockbuster.
“There were multiple bids received, and the debtors are analyzing it,” Richard S. Kanowitz, a lawyer for the creditors, said in a phone interview Friday, following Thursday’s deadline to submit competing bids.
