Former CEO bids for pieces of Fingerhut

Federated Department Stores

yesterday received a bid from Tom Petters and Ted Deikel for “certain assets” of Fingerhut, Carol Sanger, a Federated spokesperson confirmed.

The department store chain is reviewing the offer, Sanger said. No timetable for a response has been set. She would not disclose the amount of the bid.

Eden Prairie, MN, wholesaler Petters and Deikel, former CEO of Fingerhut Companies Inc., have been waiting in the wings while the Business Development Group Acquisitions Inc. tried to work out a deal for purchasing Fingerhut’s entire business. That deal fell apart May 6.

Analysts have said that Fingerhut has decreased in value since Federated announced in January that it would liquidate the catalog unless a buyer could be found. This week, the last order was taken, and Fingerhut took its customer file off the market.

Federated plans to sell catalog subsidiaries Arizona Mail Order, Figi’s and Popular Club as going concerns.