Brookstone Holdings Corp. will go before a bankruptcy judge this week to seek approval of its bankruptcy exit plan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The centerpiece of the retailer’s plan is a $174 million bid to buy the company from Sailing Innovation US Inc. — a collaboration between Chinese investment firm Sailing Capital Overseas Investment Fund LP and Chinese conglomerate Sanpower Group, with a financing commitment from GE Capital. The consortium’s bid trumped a $146.3 million offer by an affiliate of Spencer Spirit Holdings Inc., the parent of the Spencer’s and Spirit Halloween retail chains, which had served as the lead bidder at a June 2 auction. Under the current plan, Brookstone’s unsecured creditors will receive at least $1.25 million, plus a chance to collect as much as $1.5 million more depending on how much money comes in from the sale. The plan also proposes to pay off the company’s approximately $51 million in bank loans with a loan provided by bondholders funding the restructuring.
