Grand Hall Enterprise Co (關中), a supplier and creditor of Barbeques Galore Inc, will offer US$12 million for stores of the bankrupt US retailer.
Grand Hall is bidding for as many as 42 of Barbeques Galore’s 65 stores in a Sept. 3 to Sept. 15 auction, the Taipei-based company said in a stock exchange filing yesterday.
Carlsbad, California-based Barbeques Galore, the world’s largest specialty retailer of barbecues and accessories, filed for bankruptcy in the US on Aug. 15. Grand Hall said last month that it wrote off US$5.4 million in receivables, or 7 percent of assets, because of the bankruptcy.
“It’s not the best timing to buy a retailer of non-essential daily goods,” said Robyn Hsu (�?�), who helps manage US$4.9 billion in funds at Capital Investment Trust Corp (群益投信).
Grand Hall’s stock fell 3.9 percent to NT$12.40 in Taipei, its lowest since listing on Taiwan’s over-the-counter exchange on Jan. 20, 2003.
Bidders can make offers for the inventory of Barbeques Galore’s 65 stores and warehouse as well as for intellectual property and store leases.
Barbeques Galore said it would sell the company or form “a consensual liquidating plan” with bank lenders. The drop in home sales helped push the company into bankruptcy, chief executive officer Jeffrey Sears said at the time.
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