British sporting goods company Sports Direct International Plc is in talks to bid for Eastern Outfitters LLC, the parent of U.S. discount chain Bob's Stores and outdoor retailer Eastern Mountain Sports, Reuters reported. Sports Direct, Britain's largest sporting goods retailer with about 700 stores in that country and continental Europe, has been looking for ways to expand in the United States. Last year, it bid for the intellectual property of bankrupt retailer Sports Authority, but lost to Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. Sports Direct is in talks with Eastern Outfitters about it becoming a stalking-horse bidder in a bankruptcy auction for the company.
