Ebony Media Operations LLC plans to sell its business to an investment group led by former NBA player Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman for about $14 million, the only serious offer received by the bankrupt publisher of Black magazines, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Last July the owner of its namesake magazine was forced into bankruptcy by Parkview Capital Credit and other creditors that said they wanted to take over the publication, which has chronicled Black culture for 75 years but has fallen on hard times. The involuntary bankruptcy came weeks after Ebony’s main shareholder was fired as chief executive and removed from the board. The company said it would investigate financial transactions he had made, allegedly without board or lender approval. Ebony stopped publishing in print in 2019. The company’s assets consist mostly of intellectual property, including Ebony and Jet trademarks, the related domain names and websites, and certain legacy published materials. In October, Bridgeman Sports & Media LLC was named the lead bidder subject to better and higher offers in a process supervised by U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston. On Friday, said in a court filing that no other qualified bids had been submitted as of a bid deadline the previous day and that Bridgeman Sports had been declared the successful bidder. A bankruptcy judge is scheduled today to consider whether to approve the proposed sale.
