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Independent directors of Nine West Holdings Inc. proposed that Sycamore Partners LLC and a unit of KKR & Co. pay $470 million to settle potential lawsuits stemming from Sycamore’s 2014 leveraged buyout of the now-bankrupt shoe retailer, Bloomberg News reported. An ad hoc group of unsecured creditors that had been negotiating with Nine West disclosed the offer by the independent board members in bankruptcy court papers Monday. The group, which includes Aurelius Capital Management LP, Contrarian Capital Management LLC, Paloma Partners Management Co. and Centerbridge Partners LP, was negotiating with Nine West’s owners for about a month before the discussions stalled, the filings show. The filings didn’t detail what potential lawsuits could be brought against KKR and Sycamore for their roles in the company’s financial woes. Talks between the parties will resume, said the group, which is working with TRS Advisors LLC, the firm founded by Todd Snyder after he left Rothschild Inc.’s restructuring practice in 2017, and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP is serving as counsel. The group’s most recent proposal included a $40 million rights offering that would involve convertible preferred equity and be backstopped by certain holders of 2019 and 2034 notes.

The brand name of specialty retailer Brookstone Inc. will go up for auction with a lead bid from Bluestar Alliance LLC, which recently raised its offer for the third time, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy. Brand-licensing firm Bluestar increased its bid to $56.35 million from $43 million, according to court papers filed on Thursday. The offer includes at least $50.45 million in cash and at least $5.9 million of value “in the form of readily salable inventory.” Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., approved Bluestar’s offer as the baseline bid in an auction scheduled for Sept. 26. Early last week, Brookstone received a $35 million offer from Authentic Brands Group Inc. for its brand, which included “an express interest” in finding a partner to keep the retail business alive.

Formerly distressed U.S. storage and organization products retailer The Container Store has returned to the U.S. leveraged loan market to reprice and extend a term loan, in a rare turnaround story as the retail sector remains under pressure, Reuters reported. The ecommerce retailer is asking lenders to drop pricing on its $292.5 million term loan to 500 basis point over Libor with a 1 percent floor and extend the maturity by two years to 2023. The loan now pays 700 basis points over Libor and is trading above par in the secondary market. Only two and a half years ago, The Container Store’s term loan was trading at distressed levels at 63 cents on the dollar in February 2016. The company’s performance in the next 12 to 24 months should benefit from an increased focus on custom design and initiatives to grow proprietary products, optimize pricing and reallocate marketing spend to digital channels, said Raya Sokolyanska, a senior analyst at Moody’s Investors Service said.

Bon-Ton, the more than century-old department store chain that declared bankruptcy in February and shut its doors Wednesday, may be close to a comeback, USA Today reported. The rights to relaunch the retailer and its subsidiary brands are close to being acquired. The reinvented Bon-Ton would be a sleeker business more focused on e-commerce, according to sources. While it will be centered around its website, there are also plans to reopen physical locations in Illinois, Colorado, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Services like personal styling will be offered, and stores will be open for a shorter time most week days, and for extended hours from Thursday to Sunday. Former Bon-Ton employees would get first dibs on re-staffing those locations. If given the green light by the bankruptcy court, Bon-Ton, and the retail chains under its corporate umbrella — Boston Store, Carson’s, Bergner’s, Elder-Beerman, Younkers, and Herberger’s — would be revived about seven months after Bon-Ton filed for bankruptcy protection.

Oaktree Capital Management LP, a junior bondholder in the Claire’s Stores Inc. bankruptcy, followed through on plans to make a bid for the retailer, while a rival group just sweetened the pot for unsecured creditors, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Oaktree last month said in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., that it was trying to put together a $1.5 billion bid for the teen retailer to rival one already on the table from a group of senior bondholders. Oaktree, an investment firm that holds $159 million in Claire’s secured second-lien notes, has long opposed the teen retailer’s existing reorganization plan, saying the restructuring agreement favors senior bondholders, including lead investor Elliott Management Corp., as well as private-equity firm Apollo Management Holdings LP. Apollo holds Claire’s equity as well as some of its debt. The debt-for-equity swap under the original plan has been valued at about $1.4 billion.

Bankrupt furniture maker Heritage Home Group LLC said on Friday that it plans to close 25 U.S. stores and has reached a deal to sell its Thomasville and Broyhill brands for $22 million to a joint venture of Authentic Brands Group and SB360 Capital Partners LLC, the Wall Street Journal reported. When High Point, N.C.-based Heritage Home filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., last month, it already had a $17.4 million offer in hand for its luxury product lines, including Hickory Chair and Pearson. Its less-expensive Thomasville and Broyhill furniture brands had yielded no firm bids, however. Licensing firm Authentic Brands, backed by private-equity firm Leonard Green & Partners, is a frequent buyer of bankrupt assets. Earlier this week, it made a $35 million offer for the brands of bankrupt Brookstone Inc. Authentic Brands also owns brands associated with Nine West Holdings Inc., Aéropostale Inc. and Frederick’s of Hollywood through bankruptcy sales.

Ruby’s Diners Inc. intends to file for bankruptcy protection next week, just days after it put some of some of its Southern California restaurants into chapter 11 to fend off a bid by one of its lenders to foreclose on its assets, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Bankruptcy lawyer William Lobel told a judge on Friday that Ruby’s Diner Inc. would file for bankruptcy on Tuesday. Lobel, a lawyer at Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones, was speaking at the initial hearing of Ruby’s SoCal Diners LLC. He said his team had “been burning the midnight oil” to place the Ruby’s Diner subsidiary and five of its company-owned restaurants into chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana, Calif. Douglas S. Cavanaugh, Ruby’s founder and chief executive, said in a declaration with the court that the chapter 11 filing was prompted by a bid by lender Opus Bank for the appointment of a receiver. The bank, which had loaned Ruby’s $5.9 million, claimed Ruby’s was in breach of its lending agreements. The bank is seeking a receiver so it can foreclose on the restaurants.

The operator of shoe retailer Aerosoles is suing the company that threw its bankruptcy process into a tailspin earlier this year, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Aerogroup International Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection in September, a victim of intense competition and the troubled retail environment. Shortly after filing, it inked a deal to be acquired by GBG USA Inc. GBG is the company behind Global Brands Group,the owner of licensing rights to such high-profile brands as Under Armour and Kenneth Cole. However, despite the court’s approval of the sale, “just 11 minutes … without any warning” before Aerosoles’ confirmation hearing in January, GBG terminated its asset purchase agreement to acquire Aerosoles, according to court papers filed on Thursday. The sale to GBG was the “centerpiece” of the reorganization plan, court papers show. “The sudden termination left the debtors’ estates on the precipice of administrative insolvency,” court papers said.