Steve & Barry's Acquired by Bay Harbour Affiliate

Steve & Barry's Acquired by Bay Harbour Affiliate
August 06, 2008

Port Washington, N.Y.-based Steve & Barry's LLC announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved a "stalking horse" Asset Purchase Agreement with BH S&B Holdings LLC, a newly formed subsidiary of investment firm Bay Harbour Management. Under the terms of the agreement, BH S&B Holdings would acquire certain of the company's assets for $163 million. Subject to acceptable negotiation of lease terms prior to the final auction date, BH S&B Holdings plans to continue to operate Steve & Barry's retail stores, with current staff and key facilities, including the company's New York headquarters, Columbus, Ohio, distribution center and certain overseas offices. The assets to be acquired include, but are not limited to, certain Steve & Barry's store leases; all Steve & Barry's merchandise, with the exclusion of any product located at stores not purchased by BH S&B Holdings; and all Steve & Barry's intellectual property rights, including its celebrity and brand licenses. The company has further entered into an agency sale agreement for inventory in stores where the company and BH S&B Holdings cannot accomplish an appropriate package of renegotiated leases and other conditions. In this circumstance, Hilco Merchant Resources LLC becomes the stalking horse bidder with intention of conducting a final sale of the company's inventory. The stalking horse proposal will serve as the opening bid during an auction process that is scheduled to take place in August, and will be subject to higher and better offers.