%1

In its rush to find a buyer earlier this year and avoid liquidation, bankrupt Toys “R” Us Inc. landed on a familiar name: Sycamore Partners, Bloomberg News reported. The private-equity firm, which had already scooped up several troubled retailers, held advanced talks with Toys “R” Us about acquiring the chain and keeping open half its 800 U.S. locations. Target Corp. also seriously pursued buying some of the retailer’s assets, including the parent registry and website of its Babies “R” Us brand. But those potential deals collapsed in February when the retailer’s senior creditors decided there would be a better return by selling off assets during a liquidation of the U.S. retail business. By mid-March, management publicly disclosed the shutdown after a Bloomberg News report that it was preparing for that option.

The assets of Penthouse Global Media have been sold for $11.2 million to the owner of XVideos.com, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal reported. Adult industry news outlet XBiz reported on Tuesday that XVideos.com management was among 400 individuals, companies and other investors in the adult entertainment industry expressing interest in the Chatsworth company’s intellectual property, videos, publications, broadcasting and digital rights. Penthouse Global Media filed for chapter 11 protection in January to address its debt and other financial issues.

The owner of restaurant chains that include Planet Hollywood, Buca di Beppo and Earl of Sandwich is the winning bidder for bankrupt pizza chain Bertucci’s Corp., topping an earlier offer from an investment firm, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Earl Enterprises, whose chains have about 130 locations, will pay more than $3 million in cash for Bertucci’s, take on $4 million of debt it acquired in bankruptcy, and issue $13 million in new second-lien debt. The original bidder, Chicago-based Right Lane Capital LLC, offered less in cash, $1.7 million, and $14 million in new notes, as well as the $4 million in bankruptcy financing. Right Lane will also receive a breakup fee and expense reimbursement totaling $995,000 for having served as stalking horse, or lead, bidder.

Investors stung by the collapse of William Jordan Investments Inc., which filed for bankruptcy last year while securities regulators were investigating the firm’s finances, are expected to split at least $2.4 million in cash recovered from the sale of some of its real-estate investments, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Lawyers who have sold off properties tied to the Laguna Hills, Calif., firm have proposed to distribute some of the sale money in the next few months. It is unclear how far the money will go to repay the firm’s roughly 100 investors, who face July deadlines to submit an estimate of how much money they lost. Regulators have said that the firm’s former president, William Jordan, collected more than $71 million from investors for real-estate loans during a five-year period.

Hildene Capital Management LLC is the winning bidder for two bankrupt Scottish Re Group Ltd. subsidiaries, besting an earlier offer by an investment fund led by a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Stamford, Conn.-based hedge fund plans to pay a total of $34 million, including $12.5 million to recapitalize Scottish Holdings Inc. and an affiliate after they leave bankruptcy, according to filing Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Hildene had owned trust preferred securities in Scottish Holdings when it sought protection from creditors in January, and was one of three members of the unsecured creditors committee, court filings show. The Scottish business had entered bankruptcy with a deal in hand to sell itself to HSCM Bermuda Fund Ltd., subject to better bids. The investment fund of Hudson Structured Capital Management Ltd. originally said it would pay a total of about $25 million, of which $12.5 million would be to recapitalize the companies after they emerge from bankruptcy. After the auction in New York last Wednesday, Hudson was named the backup bidder, with a total offer that had risen to $32 million, including the $12.5 million to recapitalize the companies.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Central Islip today approved the sale of Dowling College’s 105-acre Brookhaven campus In Shirley, N.Y., to Triple Five Aviation Industries LLC for $14 million, Newsday reported. Representatives, creditors and trustees of the defunct liberal arts college at a hearing yesterday requested that Judge Robert E. Grossman approve the sale, allowing for Triple Five Aviation and Dowling’s estate to close the real estate transaction within 45 days. Triple Five Aviation is a subsidiary of the Triple Five Group of Companies — the majority partner in a joint venture to redevelop the Enterprise Park at Calverton known as EPCAL.

The Metropoulos family, known for turning around nostalgic household names like Hostess Brands and Chef Boyardee, is buying the maker of Necco wafers after a sale of the company behind the chalky treats to an Ohio candy maker fell apart, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Round Hill Investments LLC, the firm run by billionaire investor C. Dean Metropoulos and his sons Evan and Daren, has purchased the New England Confectionery Co. out of bankruptcy for $17.3 million. The sale, which a bankruptcy lawyer said closed on Thursday, comes days after a deal with Ohio’s Spangler Candy Co., the maker of Dum Dum lollipops, collapsed. Spangler had won a chapter 11 auction last week and agreed to pay $18.83 million for the pre-Civil War era candy maker. However, court papers show, Spangler wanted its purchase price adjusted to reflect a lower price, causing the sale to collapse. The failure of the Spangler sale left backup bidder Round Hill in position to acquire the 171-year-old candy maker.

The Garces Restaurant Group is officially up for sale, after a contentious month-long process, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported. Chef Jose Garces' eponymous restaurant group earlier this month announced it filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and intended to sell for over $5 million to Louisiana-based Ballard Brands, which owns the PJ's Coffee franchise in New Orleans, among others. A federal judge on Wednesday awarded the Louisiana hospitality company stalking-horse status, with a current bid of $6.6 million, which sets that figure as the low-end bar on bids. Additional bids have a June 21 deadline. If there are competing bids, there will be an auction on June 26 at Greenberg Traurig in Philadelphia.

Marketing firm Didit is close to acquiring Gawker.com and if successful intends to relaunch the blog, known for publishing irreverent articles that were sometimes controversial, with a new editorial policy to only post content it considers to be positive, the Wall Street Journal reported. Advisers liquidating the blog’s former publisher have a deal to sell the website to Didit for $1.13 million, an offer that is subject to higher offers at a potential auction, according to papers filed Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. The agreement and terms of an auction must be approved by a judge. Based in Mineola, N.Y., Didit was founded in 1996. Liquidators have tentatively set a July 12 date for the auction assuming they receive other qualified bids for the blog. Gawker ceased publishing new articles in August 2016, months after losing in court to professional wrestler Hulk Hogan whose $140 million judgment against publisher Gawker Media LLC forced the company into bankruptcy. The case was settled in chapter 11 for $31 million. The Hogan case concerned publishing excerpts from a video of a sexual encounter with the wife of a former friend.