Bankrupt Spiegel Group on April 6 took several significant steps to close out its operations. For starters, Spiegel agreed to sell substantially all the assets of its Newport News women’s apparel business to Pangea Holdings for $25 million.
The sale isn’t a done deal, however; rather, Pangea becomes the “stalking horse” bid in a bankruptcy court auction that’s expected to take place by the end of April, according to Spiegel spokesperson Debbie Koopman.
Downers Grove, IL-based Spiegel also announced that it has directed New York-based Miller Buckfire Lewis Ying & Co., which advised on the Newport News deal, to sell its Eddie Bauer catalog/retail unit. And Spiegel says it is in negotiations with an unnamed potential buyer for its flagship catalog business.
“It’s all part of the reorganization process,” Koopman says. The sell-off took place after Michael Otto, the German billionaire whose family owns 89% of Spiegel’s shares, failed to negotiate a deal with Spiegel’s creditors to retain control of Spiegel and to settle $1.3 billion worth of legal claims, according to published reports.