A consortium of liquidators that includes Tiger Capital Group, Hilco Global and Gordon Brothers prevailed in an auction for Sports Authority Holdings Inc.’s assets, and store-closing sales could begin as soon as May 25, bankruptcy court documents show.
The winning bidders topped a rival offer from a second group of liquidators that included Yellen Partners, SB Capital Group and 360 Merchant Solutions, two people familiar with the auction said.
The winning group agreed to pay 101 percent of the cost of the retailer’s inventory, plus a $1.8 million augment guarantee, a person close to the situation said.
Officials for the Englewood-based Sports Authority, , could not be reached for comment.
Other offers ahead of the auction came from competitors Modell’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods. An auction for the retailer’s store leases will be held at a later time, the people said.
Sports Authority has already through sales that were run by Tiger Capital and Gordon Brothers.
Bloomberg News, also citing unnamed sources, said Sports Authority’s name and the stadium naming rights went unsold at Monday’s auction. Term-loan lenders, including the Blackstone Group’s GSO Capital Partners, Wellington Management and Columbia Management Investment Advisers, are claiming to have collateral rights over Sports Authority’s intellectual property and contracts such as the naming-rights agreement, Bloomberg reported.
The and are balking at the sale of naming rights to the Broncos’ stadium, Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Sports Authority is also on the hook for a quarterly payment of .
The naming rights deal and team sponsorship agreement were not mentioned in the notice of successful bidding filed late Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware
When Sports Authority initially filed for bankruptcy, the company had high hopes of reorganizing. However, just a few months after the filing and rising tensions with vendors, landlords and creditors, the company’s attorney said .
Modell’s was thought to be the “white knight” for Sports Authority, but the small bid proved to be “disappointing.”
Dick’s submitted a bid for fewer than 20 stores, while Modell’s sought just a handful of locations, people familiar with the matter said.
Denver Post staff writer Alicia Wallace contributed to this report.
