Seven months after emerging from bankruptcy proceedings, Bob’s Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) are reportedly heading back to Chapter 11 proceedings and may have already found another buyer, Sports Direct International.

According to a report from Reuters, Sports Direct International Plc, the U.K.’s largest sporting goods chain with roughly 670 stores, is in discussions to become the stalking horse bidder in a bankruptcy auction of Eastern Outfitters LLC, the parent of Bob’s Stores and EMS. The law firm Cole Schotz PC has reportedly been hired to prepare for a Chapter 11 petition for a filing in coming days.

EMS, with 61 locations, is the nation’s second largest specialty outdoor retailers after REI while Bob’s, with 34 locations, offers value-oriented footwear, apparel and work wear with a big fan apparel business. Both focus on the Eastern and Mid-Atlantic regions.

EMS and Bob’s Stores exited bankruptcy reorganization July 19 under a new entity called Eastern Outfitters LLC, although its ownership and leadership remained largely the same.

Eastern Outfitters, with annual sales of $400 million, is a division of private-equity firm Versa Capital Management, as was Vestis Retail Group, which took the retailers into bankruptcy along with sister brand Sport Chalet three months before. The owners used Chapter 11 to dump Sport Chalet and all its 47 stores — which they said was the most under-performing business of the group — along with closing one Bob’s and eight EMS locations.

Versa then created Eastern Outfitters to buy back EMS and Bob’s out of bankruptcy in what’s known as a stalking-horse bid. The value of the bid was estimated at $96 million. Vestis Retail CEO Mark Walsh returned to hold the same role at Eastern Outfitters.

Said Walsh at the time of the exit, “We move forward with a focused strategy and strengthened capital structure that will enable EMS and Bob’s to prosper. The management team and I would like to thank our trade and service partners for their unwavering support and for recognizing the value of our brands and their confidence in our strategic plan. We are excited to begin this new chapter and the growth trajectory we have outlined for our future.”

By all indications, Sports Direct is itching to establish a foothold in the U.S. Last June, Sports Direct and Modell’s Sporting Goods were reportedly weighing an 11th-hour bid for up to 200 of Sport Authorities stores leases just before the chain moved to liquidate. Sports Direct also bid for Sports Authority’s intellectual property of Sports Authority but lost out to Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. Sports Directs’ controversial owner is Mike Ashley, who also owns the Newcastle United football squad.

According to the Reuters report, sources said Sports Direct “had expressed interest in preserving at least some” of the EMS and Bob’s locations.

According to a report earlier in the week from the New York Post, Versa had been looking for a buyer for EMS and Bob’s Stores for several weeks and remains on the verge of filing this Friday.

“We are evaluating a number of strategic options. No decisions have been made,” Eastern Outfitters said in a statement.

Jeffrey Cohen, the lead lawyer for the chains’ creditors committee last year, told the New York Post that EMS didn’t place any orders at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market this year. He said, “Word started to get around at the conference that they were in trouble again.”

Photo courtesy Eastern Mountain Sports