The $365.1 million direct division of Westlake Village, CA-based Guitar Center—consisting primarily of Musician’s Friend—is about to get bigger. That’s because on Nov. 22 the cataloger/retailer agreed to acquire substantially all the assets of South Bend, IN-based cataloger The Woodwind & the Brasswind under section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
The transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including bankruptcy court approval, and is also subject to overbid at a bankruptcy auction expected in January. Under the terms of the agreement, Guitar Center will acquire The Woodwind & the Brasswind’s inventory of band and orchestra and combo instruments, accounts receivable, trade names and certain other intangible assets.
The Woodwind & the Brasswind filed for bankruptcy protection in Indiana on Nov. 21. The proposed asset acquisition agreement was entered into by the Musician’s Friend subsidiary of Guitar Center. According to the company release, only very limited trade obligations and other prepetition liabilities of The Woodwind & The Brasswind are being assumed.