Pacific Cycle increased its bid to buy Iron Horse Bicycle Co., which is reorganizing in bankruptcy proceedings, to $2.75 million. With another bid already in from Outdoor Cycle Group, an auction to entertain all bids for the bicycle manufacturer is now set for mid-July.


 


The bid would include all trademarks owned by Iron Horse as well as substantially all assets, including customer lists, internet websites and domain names, and inventory. A lawyer for the debtor said the inventory may include any remaining bikes made through licenses under the Columbia, K2 and Jeep names. The licenses may also be acquired but it was still being determined whether the licenses were active.


 


At a court hearing on Monday, a lawyer representing CIT Group, Iron Horse's secured lender, said the new offer from Pacific Cycle is $2.25 million in cash and a $500,000 note. In May, Pacific Cycle offered $2 million cash for the brand’s intellectual property, inventory and other assets.




Outdoor Cycle, which is owned by Randall Scott, son of former Iron Horse president Cliff Weidberg, has bid $800,000 in cash, a three-year note worth $1.2 million and a percentage of royalties from licensing the Iron Horse trademark over the next five years. The note is guaranteed by Rand International, a wholesale distributor of sporting goods.




The bankruptcy judge overseeing the case also this week moved up the deadline for bids for the auction to July 10 and set the auction for July 13.


 


Iron Horse filed an involuntary Chapter 7 liquidation petition in Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern New York District on March 22. In April, the case was converted to a Chapter 11 petition.


 


Iron Horse, based in Nevada, manufactures and distributes racing and mountain bikes under its brand name and the name of other brands such as Columbia, K2 and Jeep pursuant to licensing agreements. The debtor also owns the licenses out the following trademarks on various bicycles: Porter, PT, Triump, Worrior and Hollowpoint.