Francesca’s Holdings Corp. plans to seek court approval in January for a bidding process to sell its specialty retail business out of bankruptcy and close nearly 100 stores, on top of the nearly 140 stores it closed earlier this year, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Houston-based Francesca’s, which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, has tapped investment firm TerraMar Capital LLC to serve as the potential lead bidder for substantially all of its assets. The $23.1 million offer is dependent on the completion of an asset purchase agreement and subject to better and higher offers. The boutique chain, which sells apparel, jewelry, accessories and gifts, found that a restructuring wasn’t possible without selling a majority of the business. Francesca’s expects the purchase price to cover the secured debt, some other liabilities, as well as administrative and wind-down expenses. In court papers, Francesca’s valued its assets at $264.7 million and listed total liabilities of $290.5 million. Its largest shareholder is investment firm Cross River Capital Management LLC.
