Monarch Alternative Capital LP, which recently bought 79 stores occupied by liquidating general merchandise retailer ShopKo, is now the leading candidate to buy the company’s optical chain at an auction that started yesterday, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Green Bay, Wis.-based ShopKo said over the weekend that the auction at the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP begins with a proposed $8.5 million cash bid by Monarch, a $4.8 billion asset-investment firm mostly focused on buying the debt of distressed and bankrupt companies. ShopKo said that the sale of its optical business — its last major retail asset — to its main landlord could save as many as 700 jobs at about 80 locations. The company entered bankruptcy with about 14,000 employees. ShopKo said on Saturday that it is “excited to partner with Monarch to continue to serve” its optical customers. The auction process and final agreement is subject to the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Omaha, Neb. Read more.
Occupancy issues are at the heart of many significant retail cases, as detailed in the ABI publication Retail and Office Bankruptcy: Landlord/Tenant Rights, available at the ABI Store.
