Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. agreed to sell about $2.1 billion in assets in two deals, an important first step in the struggling drugmaker’s endeavor to get cash and begin easing its debt burden, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. L’Oreal SA, the Paris-based cosmetic giant, will pay Valeant $1.3 billion for three skin-care brands, according to a statement Tuesday. Valeant will also sell its Dendreon Pharmaceuticals unit to closely held Chinese conglomerate Sanpower Group Co. for about $820 million. The agreements mark Valeant’s biggest divestitures in almost three years, and a start to its efforts to pay down about $30 billion in debt. It’s a significant break for Chief Executive Officer Joe Papa, who took over in May to help turn around a company that had been embroiled in scandals about high prices and accounting that led to legal and regulatory investigations -- along with declines in its share price.
Hail & Hog Kitchen and Tap, a northern Virginia-based theme restaurant paying homage to the NFL’s Washington Redskins, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The eatery is based in Ashburn, Va., a suburb located 30 miles north of Washington that is also home to the professional football team’s training camp. Hail & Hog is one of a number of football-themed restaurants owned by the G.R.E.A.T. Grille Group, also known as G3. None of the other G3 businesses have filed for bankruptcy, according to Hail & Hog’s lawyer. “The root of the bankruptcy relates to the cost of the build-out for the restaurant and sums owed as a result to the general contractor,” said Roy Terry, a Sands Anderson lawyer who is representing Hail & Hog in the case. The restaurant plans to stay open and use the restructuring process afforded by chapter 11, Terry said.
Canadian apparel maker Gildan Activewear Inc. said that it had won a bankruptcy auction to buy U.S. fashion retailer American Apparel for about $88 million in cash, Reuters reported today. The deal is subject to approval from a bankruptcy court on Thursday, the company said. Under the deal, Gildan will acquire the intellectual property rights related to the American Apparel brand and certain manufacturing equipment. The company, however, will not buy any of the 110 American Apparel retail stores.
