%1

Authentic Brands Group said yesterday that it’s received bankruptcy court approval to buy footwear brand Rockport, which filed for chapter 11 in June, RetailDive.com reported. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Authentic Brands said the deal expands the company’s “diverse footwear portfolio with a trusted brand.” Authentic Brands Group also announced yesterday that it has signed a long-term licensing agreement with Marc Fisher Footwear to oversee design, wholesale and e-commerce for Rockport in the U.S. The company already works with other shoe and apparel brands in the Authentic Brands portfolio, including Nine West, Hunter Boots and Bandolino. Rockport “is a perfect addition to our portfolio with opportunities for category expansion into apparel, accessories, outerwear, travel and more,” Authentic Brands Group CEO Jamie Salter said in a statement. Rockport filed for chapter 11 for the second time in five years last month. At that time, the company said it had “an inadequate liquidity cushion to survive further economic challenges.”

All Saints Catholic Church, the only Catholic church in Buffalo’s Riverside section, will be put up for sale — likely this fall — as part of a plan to market a large school building, parish hall and rectory adjacent to the church, the Buffalo News reported. Parish leaders say they prefer to keep the church and sell just the other buildings, but the plan calls for all the properties to be listed together so as not to discourage potential developers. At the same time, they’re trying to raise money for repairs that will allow groups to use a portion of the school building again and generate some rental income for the parish of about 200 families. The entire school building on Esser Avenue has been off limits for months because the fire alarm system needs about $12,000 in repairs that are slated to begin in mid-August. Those fixes would allow the parish to reopen the first floor of a newer portion of the school for Boy Scout meetings, as a polling site and for other uses. In 2022, All Saints joined with Assumption in Black Rock and Holy Spirit, St. Margaret, St. Mark, and St. Rose of Lima in North Buffalo as one “family of parishes” under a new reorganization plan being pushed by the diocese as it deals with a chapter 11 bankruptcy and a growing shortage of priests.

Monster Beverage Corp. won bankruptcy court approval to acquire former rival Bang Energy out of chapter 11 for $362 million and settle litigation between the energy drink companies, Bloomberg News reported. Judge Peter Russin said on Wednesday that he’d approve the settlement and sale — averting the shutdown of Bang Energy, which has faced an uncertain future after its board fired founder and former Chief Executive Officer Jack Owoc earlier this year. The tie-up remains subject to additional customary closing conditions, lawyers said. Judge Russin also said he’d approve a resolution to false advertising litigation against the maker of Bang Energy. Bang maker Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. filed bankruptcy last October, months after a California jury awarded Monster $293 million over Bang’s “super creatine” branding on its products. The deal nearly fell apart before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission granted early termination of its antitrust review of the merger between Monster and Bang. Bang lawyers said at earlier hearings that the company could shut down because it was running out of cash and argued its merger with Monster qualified for early termination under the so-called failing firm defense. Monster Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Paul Dechary said in a sworn statement that the company has substantial resources to satisfy financial obligations under the Bang deal. Monster has a market capitalization of about $59 billion and cash and cash equivalents of about $3 billion, Dechary said.

Bed Bath & Beyond canceled an auction for its Buybuy Baby retail chain, abandoning a last-ditch effort to find a buyer to salvage the infant-focused retailer, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The retailer has been reviewing bids from interested buyers for all or parts of the company for weeks, with the sale process now down to the final stage. An auction was scheduled for Friday. Last week, Bed Bath & Beyond picked baby-product maker Dream On Me Industries as the winning bidder for the Buybuy Baby brand. The company was looking for higher and better offers, according to court papers filed Thursday. The company said it didn’t receive any higher or better offers for Buybuy Baby, and will instead seek bankruptcy court approval to sell the Buybuy Baby intellectual property to Dream On Me Industries at a hearing next week, according to the court filing Thursday. Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy in April after years of losses and failed turnaround plans left the once-powerful retailer short of cash. Bed Bath & Beyond brand, including its website and domain names, and its customer data were sold to Overstock.com last month.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/bed-bath-beyond-abandons-efforts-to-find-b…

Less than three months after David's Bridal filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the potential buyer of the beleaguered retailer has been revealed, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported. Court documents show New York investment and business development company CION Investment Corp. has submitted a going-concern bid to acquire a portion of the Conshohocken-based wedding dress retailer's assets. "While we still have much work to do in order to proceed with seeking approval, and as nothing is certain, this could potentially be a great outcome for David’s Bridal. This bid, if approved, would provide new money to support a go-forward David’s Bridal with up to 195 stores," David's Bridal said in a statement to the Business Journal. The retailer has more than 300 stores in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom, with additional franchise locations in Mexico. It is currently owned by a group of lenders including Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Group.

Overstock.com intends to sunset its company name and rebrand as Bed Bath & Beyond after purchasing that company's intellectual property assets in bankruptcy, Overstock CEO Jonathan Johnson said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Overstock, which chose not to bid on any of Bed Bath & Beyond's retail locations or inventory, will remain an online-only home goods retailer, combining Overstock's strengths with a better-known and stronger brand name, Johnson said in an interview. "An opportunity arose in bankruptcy to get the pieces that we loved and not have them burdened by the things we didn't like," Johnson said. "We've long liked the Bed Bath and Beyond name, but we didn't like the stores, the inventory, so don't expect stores from us." Overstock's "generic" name has held the company back, and it does not really reflect the company's current focus on selling home goods and furniture online, Johnson said.