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Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. selected baby goods company Dream on Me Industries Inc. as the initial winner of an auction for the bankrupt retailer’s BuyBuy Baby brand, with the hope that a higher bid might emerge to keep the brand’s stores alive, according to court papers, Bloomberg News reported. Although New Jersey-based Dream on Me won the initial auction held on Thursday for the company’s intellectual property, its bid could be superseded if a higher or better bid emerges for the company as a going concern, court papers show. Everyday Health Media LLC was selected as the sole backup bidder for the BuyBuy Baby assets. The terms of Dream on Me’s bid have not yet been disclosed. The company extended the deadline for BuyBuy Baby’s going concern auction to July 7. The auction was originally scheduled for Thursday. Bed Bath sold its flagship brand this week to Overstock.com Inc. for $21.5 million, after the company was unable to secure another buyer interested in keeping stores open.

Monster Beverage Corp. is closing in on a $362 million deal to acquire rival drink maker Bang Energy out of bankruptcy, but a regulatory review has put the tie-up in jeopardy, according to court papers, Bloomberg News reported. Bang Energy maker Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. said in a Wednesday court filing that the proposed sale to Monster is supported by its lenders and represents “the only viable path” to repaying its creditors in chapter 11. The deal also includes a related settlement of litigation between the two companies. Bang’s parent company said the transaction is being held up by a U.S. Federal Trade Commission review. The FTC has indicated it will require more information on the sale as part of a review process. But if impediments to the deal don’t “fall away” by the end of the week, the company could be forced to liquidate, according to Bang. The companies are urging the FTC to grant early termination of the review.

David’s Bridal LLC has received a tentative going-concern bid that would keep more than 190 stores open, spurring optimism that the wedding dress retailer might be able to survive bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. The deal would also keep more than 7,000 jobs by staving off mass store closures, lawyers for the company said in a bankruptcy court hearing Tuesday. The bid deadline has been extended to July 3 and a new sale hearing is scheduled for July 14. “We think the opportunity to save 7,000 jobs and over 190 stores is fantastic for the vendors and the landlords,” Brad Sandler, an attorney representing the company’s official creditor committee, said during the hearing. Price and precise terms of the offer were not disclosed. David’s entered bankruptcy with nearly 300 stores.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge yesterday approved Overstock.com's $21.5 million purchase of Bed Bath & Beyond's brand name, intellectual property and ecommerce platform, Reuters reported. Bankruptcy Judge Vincent Papalia approved the sale at a court hearing in Newark, New Jersey, saying that he was "gratified" to see a bidder emerge that would preserve Bed Bath & Beyond's brand. Overstock emerged as the winning bidder for the company's intellectual property in a deal worth $21.5 million, court filings showed on Thursday. Bed Bath & Beyond stores and inventory are not part of the deal. Once a storied retailer, Bed Bath & Beyond filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April after struggling for years with dwindling sales and a failed merchandising strategy. Bed Bath & Beyond is hosting a separate auction starting tomorrow for its Buy Buy Baby chain, which sells products for infants and toddlers. The Buy Buy Baby assets have attracted interest from investment firms Go Global Retail and Sixth Street Partners, according to media reports.

Buy Buy Baby, the baby goods retailer owned by Bed Bath & Beyond, has been attracting interest ahead of its bankruptcy-run auction. But suitors are cooling on keeping its stores open, CNBC.com reported. Last week, Bed Bath & Beyond said in court papers there would be a bankruptcy-run auction Wednesday for Buy Buy Baby’s assets. Bed Bath had its own auction this week, with Overstock.com agreeing to buy for the brand’s intellectual property and digital assets. Divvying up the company’s banners into two auctions came as interested buyers continue to weigh offers for Buy Buy Baby, some that included keeping stores open, according to people familiar with the matter, who were not authorized to speak publicly due to the private nature of the negotiations. But as the auction nears, interest in keeping Buy Buy Baby’s stores open has waned. In particular, the expenses behind running the stores – leases, overhead costs, salaries – make it difficult to reach profitability if Buy Buy Baby’s stores were acquired along with its intellectual property, one of the people said. “There’s not a profitable model where you only have 10 stores or 40 stores,” the person said. Buy Buy Baby had approximately 120 stores, according to court papers.

As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, the Diocese of Norwich (Conn.) has sold 113.19 acres of property to the Mohegan Tribe, the Norwich Bulletin reported. The property includes the St. Bernard School and was approved by Judge James J. Tancredi of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Hartford. In addition to the $6,550,000 sale price, the bid terms include an initial 20-year lease of the property to St. Bernard School, which under the terms of the bid will remain open. The Court granted a waiver of the 14-day stay period under U.S. Bankruptcy Rules and the sale closed on June 21 following entry of the Sale Order.

Online retailer Overstock.com has won the auction for some assets of Bed Bath & Beyond, including the bankrupt home goods chain's intellectual property and mobile platform, for $21.5 million, court filings showed today, Reuters reported. Last week, Overstock had offered to buy those assets for the same price under a "stalking horse" bid. Bed Bath & Beyond had then said it would continue to solicit other offers. While Bed Bath & Beyond's stores are not part of the deal, it will include the retailer's business data and publicity rights. Overstock will also assume certain liabilities related to transferred contracts. The sale is subject to approval by the bankruptcy court at a hearing on Tuesday.

Bankrupt media outlet Vice Media has found a bidder for its business that wants to chart a new course for the beleaguered company outside chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported. Digital media conglomerate GoDigital is in advanced talks to buy all of Vice’s assets including its core news business and female-focused Refinery29 at an upcoming bankruptcy auction, the people said. A bid could put GoDigital in competition with Fortress Investment Group and Soros Fund Management, lenders to Vice that have offered to swap outstanding debts for ownership of the business. GoDigital’s bid would likely value Vice at between $300 million and $350 million. The talks involving GoDigital aren’t guaranteed to produce a workable deal. Any bidder needs to show it has sufficient funds to buy Vice, and GoDigital is still finishing due diligence on the company and preparing documentation.

Bed Bath & Beyond’s top lender is preparing for a possible bid for at least some of the bankrupt home-goods retailer’s assets, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Sixth Street Partners is planning to use more than $500 million of its debt in the company to bid, the lender’s lawyer David Hillman said in a bankruptcy-court hearing Wednesday. Sixth Street plans to bid in the form of debt forgiveness in the event that other offers for Bed Bath & Beyond’s assets come up less than what it considers satisfactory. Sixth Street, the retailer’s biggest lender, could seek to acquire the Buybuy Baby chain or all of the retailer’s assets out of bankruptcy. Bed Bath & Beyond has been in talks with Go Global Retail, the owner of children’s apparel retailer Janie and Jack, to acquire Buybuy Baby and keep the chain operating, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month. Sixth Street replaced JPMorgan Chase, Bed Bath’s former senior lender, and secured the rights as lead creditor to bid using its debt holdings, Hillman said at Wednesday’s hearing. Top lenders have the right to take over the assets of a bankrupt borrower as a way to satisfy their claims. JPMorgan has been paid out in full and is expected to resign as the agent on a prebankruptcy loan by the end of the week, a lawyer representing the lender said in court.