Performance Sports Group Ltd., the maker of Bauer ice hockey gear, said yesterday that it had filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and Canada to facilitate a restructuring and sale of almost all of its assets, Reuters reported. The company, which also makes baseball bats and other sports equipment, said that it would put its assets up for auction but already had a deal to sell nearly all of them for $575 million to an investor group led by Sagard Capital, its biggest shareholder, and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Former Performance Chairman Graeme Roustan told Reuters in August that he was working with investment banks to explore a bid for the company. The company listed assets of $500 million to $1 billion and liabilities of $500 million to $1 billion in its voluntary petition filed in Delaware under chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Performance said that it expected operations to continue uninterrupted during the bankruptcy process, through a $386 million debtor-in-possession financing provided by existing lenders and the investor group.
