Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) parent Mountain Sports, LLC’s deadline for receiving additional bids for its assets came and went last week. The Bankruptcy Court has canceled the bidding process. According to the Bid Procedures outlined in the bankruptcy proceedings, if no Qualified Bids, other than the Stalking Horse Bid, were received by the bid deadline of August 20, 2024, no auction would be conducted.
U.K.-based Mountain Warehouse emerged in July as the stalking horse bidder for EMS, offering $5 million to acquire its intellectual property.
EMS’ parent company, Mountain Sports, LLC, filed for bankruptcy in June.
Mountain Warehouse is seeking to continue operating seven stores under the Eastern Mountain Sports name. Mountain Warehouse will also retain the EMS name.
Mountain Warehouse was founded in 1997 by Mark Neale and operates over 350 stores worldwide. It has been operating stores in the U.S. for over ten years, with six stores in New York, Illinois and Michigan. It also operates several stores in Canada.
The Debtors in these Chapter 11 cases are Mountain Sports, LLC; SDI Stores, LLC; SDI Gift Card, LLC; Bob’s Stores USA, LLC; and Mountain Sports USA, LLC.
The initial filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, DE, came after PNC Bank, National Association, the company’s primary lender and secured creditor, declared a default under Mountain Sports’ loan agreement on March 29. Subsequently, PNC Bank exercised dominion over the company’s cash and receivables and funded certain expenses as Mountain Sports tried to work out a reorganization plan with PNC’s consent.
As reported by SGB Media, the 20 largest unsecured creditors are the following:
- Yell Steel Enterprise, owed $472,335
- Smartwool, $455,291
- Oboz, $432,147
- Marmot, $353,648
- The North Face, $322,582
- Hydro Flask, $206,040
- Amer Sports, $195,563
- Black Diamond Equipment, $193,843
- Thule, $176,617
- Wolverine World Wide, $158,870
- Gregory, $155,014
- Cotopaxi, $148,753
- Outdoor Research, $128,804
- Mountain Shades, $125,938
- On, $125,696
- Vuori, $118,188
- Prana, $111,139
- PFE Express, Ltd., $110,049
- Altra, $108,393
- Google, $108,122.
The filing by Mountain Sports follows the acquisition of EMS and Bob’s by GoDigital Media Group, a Los Angeles, CA-based media and technology holding company, in May 2022 for $70 million. The seller was Frasers Group, the U.K.-based owner of Sports Direct that had acquired the two businesses for $101 million as the former owner faced a bankruptcy threat.
Image courtesy of Eastern Mountain Sports
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For additional SGB Media coverage, see below.
EXEC: Mountain Warehouse Submits $5M Stalking Horse Bid for EMS Assets
