ACQUISITION
Steve & Barry’s chain bought out
BHY S&B Holdings, a newly formed affiliate of investment firms Bay Harbour Management and York Capital Management, acquired bankrupt discount clothier Steve & Barry’s for $168 million at auction early Thursday morning.
Steve & Barry’s co-founders Steve Shore and Barry Prevor are among BHY S&B’s investors.
Spokeswoman Rachel Brenner declined to discuss the details of Shore and Prevor’s involvement in buying their own bankrupt company, and said she did not know whether it was a common move in the industry.
“We’re not experts on that. Fortunately, we’re new to bankruptcy,” she said.
No decisions have been made about the fate of the chain’s local stores at The Summit mall in Niagara Falls, the Walden Galleria in Cheektowaga and the Olean Center Mall in Olean. Most of the company’s 276 stores are expected to remain open, according to a press release. Over the next week, BH S&B Holdings is expected to announce which Steve & Barry’s stores will close and when.
The acquisition includes merchandise inventories, transfer rights to store leases, intellectual property rights, including its celebrity and brand licenses, as well as the company’s Port Washington headquarters, Columbus, Ohio distribution center, and some offices overseas.
The sale is pending court approval and expected to be finalized Monday.
