Bauer Hockey and Easton Baseball will need two bankruptcy judges, one in Canada and one in the U.S., to referee a fight among shareholders over how the sporting goods makers should be sold at a court-ordered auction, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The companies, makers of skates, bats and other equipment used by pros and amateurs, are owned by Performance Sports Group Ltd., whose shareholders can’t agree on how to organize a sale. Lawyers will appear before judges in Toronto and Wilmington, Delaware, on Nov. 30 in a video-linked court hearing to sort out auction procedures. Performance and the Bauer and Easton units filed for creditor protection in the U.S. and Canada last month because the companies have assets in both countries. In a phone conference on Wednesday, the judges said that they were concerned Exeter, N.H.-based Performance Sports wasn’t giving them enough time to rule. Under deadlines imposed by the company’s lenders and the lead bidder for its assets, auction rules must be approved by Nov. 30. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey told his Canadian counterpart, Ontario Superior Court Judge Frank Newbould, that he expects them to “have an opportunity to consult with each other privately so hopefully we can come to consistent rulings.”
