U.S. mall owners Namdar Realty Group and Washington Prime Group Inc. are in talks to acquire U.S. department store operator Bon-Ton Stores Inc. out of bankruptcy, Reuters reported. Namdar’s and Washington Prime’s bid for Bon-Ton offers a path for the retailer to survive, three sources said. Firms specializing in liquidation plan to submit a $740 million offer for Bon-Ton in partnership with its bondholders. If that bid were to prevail, the company would be dismantled Bon-Ton, which filed for bankruptcy in February with about 250 stores, is a significant tenant of both Namdar and Washington Prime malls. Its survival would help protect the value of these malls. Namdar plans to work with its partner, Mason Asset Management, which jointly invests with Namdar and manages its properties, on the bid. Bon-Ton extended the deadline for bids in its bankruptcy auction last week to yesterday, after announcing it was in active discussions with a bidder whom it did not identify. That bidder is the consortium of Namdar and Washington Prime. Read more.
A special episode of “Eye on Bankruptcy” focused on the next wave of retail cases will be taped before a live audience at the Annual Spring Meeting! Watch a preview. To register for the Annual Spring Meeting, please click here.
Occupancy issues are at the heart of many significant retail cases, as detailed in the forthcoming ABI publication Retail and Office Bankruptcy: Landlord/Tenant Rights, available for pre-order at the ABI Store.
