Marquee Brands provides "stalking horse" bid in
court-supervised Chapter 11 restructuring
Motherhood Maternity®, A Pea in the Pod® and
Destination Maternity® Stores and Websites Remain Open During
Process
Destination Maternity Corporation (NASDAQ: DEST) (“Destination
Maternity” or the “Company”), the premier national retailer for
maternity apparel and accessories, filed on November 29, 2019 a
motion to approve the selection of Marquee Brands, LLC (“Marquee
Brands”) as the stalking horse bidder in its ongoing marketing and
sale process. Marquee Brand’s bid is to purchase the Company’s
ecommerce businesses, intellectual property, leased departments
within department stores and baby specialty stores, strategic
marketing partnerships and the right to designate certain inventory
and related assets for sale by its partners, Gordon Brothers and
Hilco Merchant Resources.
The bid of approximately $50 million, subject to adjustment,
along with the assumption of certain liabilities, represents a
baseline bid and is subject to higher or otherwise better offers in
an open auction process. The proposed Purchase Agreement contains
customary closing conditions. To the extent additional qualified
bids are received, Destination Maternity expects the auction,
scheduled to take place on December 9, 2019, to be competitive.
The deadline to submit qualified bids is December 5, 2019, and
the Company expects to seek Court approval of the winning bid on
December 12, 2019. Parties interested in participating in the
marketing process should contact the Company’s investment bank,
Greenhill & Co., LLC (Neil Augustine,
neil.augustine@greenhill.com, and Peter Johns,
peter.johns@greenhill.com).
“We are pleased that Marquee Brands recognizes the value of our
business and has made a competitive bid during our marketing and
sale process,” said Lisa Gavales, a member of Destination
Maternity’s Board of Directors and the interim Office of the CEO.
“We are working to continue the sale process, including the
auction, and look forward to an outcome that will maximize value
for our stakeholders. Looking ahead, we remain focused on
continuing to serve our loyal customers.”
Throughout the process, Destination Maternity expects its
operations to continue to serve customers and to meet its
day-to-day obligations to its employees, suppliers of goods and
services and customers.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Landis Rath & Cobb LLP are
acting as the Company’s legal co-counsel, Greenhill & Co., LLC
is acting as investment banker and Berkeley Research Group, LLC
(“BRG”) is serving as Destination Maternity’s restructuring
advisor.
About Destination Maternity
Destination Maternity is the leading designer and omni-channel
retailer of maternity apparel in the United States, with the only
nationwide chain of maternity apparel specialty stores, as well as
a deep and expansive assortment available through multiple online
distribution points, including our three brand-specific websites.
We sell our merchandise on the Internet, primarily through our
Motherhood.com, APeaInThePod.com and DestinationMaternity.com
websites. We also sell our merchandise through our Canadian
website, MotherhoodCanada.ca, through Amazon.com in the United
States, and through websites of certain of our retail partners,
including Macys.com. Our stores operate under three retail
nameplates: Motherhood Maternity®, A Pea in the Pod® and
Destination Maternity®. We also operate leased departments within
leading retailers such as Macy’s®, buybuy BABY® and Boscov’s®.
About Marquee Brands
Marquee Brands is a leading global brand owner and marketer.
Owned by investor funds managed by Neuberger Berman, one of the
world's leading employee-owned investment managers, Marquee Brands
targets high quality brands with strong consumer awareness and
long-term growth potential. Marquee Brands seeks to identify brands
in various consumer product segments with the goal of expanding
their reach across retail channel, geography and product category
while preserving the brand heritage and enhancing the ultimate
consumer experience. Through its global team of professionals and
partners, Marquee Brands monitors trends and markets in order to
grow and manage brands in partnership with retailers, licensees and
manufacturers through engaging, impactful strategic planning,
marketing, and e-commerce. www.marqueebrands.com.
About Gordon Brothers
Since 1903, Gordon Brothers (www.gordonbrothers.com) has helped
lenders, operating executives, advisors, and investors move forward
through change. The firm brings a powerful combination of expertise
and capital to clients, developing customized solutions on an
integrated or standalone basis across four service areas:
valuations, dispositions, operations, and investments. Whether to
fuel growth or facilitate strategic consolidation, Gordon Brothers
partners with companies in the retail, commercial, and industrial
sectors to put assets to their highest and best use. Gordon
Brothers conducts more than $70 billion worth of dispositions and
appraisals annually. Gordon Brothers is headquartered in Boston,
with 25 offices across five continents.
About Hilco Merchant Resources
Hilco Merchant Resources (www.hilcomerchantresources.com)
provides a wide range of analytical, advisory, asset monetization,
and capital investment services to help define and execute a
retailer’s strategic initiatives. Hilco Merchant Resources’
activities fall into several principal categories including
acquisitions; disposition of underperforming stores; retail company
or division wind downs; event sales to convert unwanted assets into
working capital; facilitation of mergers and acquisitions; interim
company, division or store management teams; loss prevention; and,
the monetization of furniture, fixtures and equipment.
Additionally, HMR now includes among its subsidiaries the nation’s
premier fixture and equipment liquidation firm, Hilco Fixed Asset
Recovery (www.hilcoffe.com), an innovative sale locater website
called Shop Genius (www.shopgenius.com), as well as the popular
online retail and daily deal e-commerce company, Deal Genius, LLC
(www.dealgenius.com). Hilco Merchant Resources is part of
Northbrook, Illinois based Hilco Global (www.hilcoglobal.com), one
of the world’s leading authorities on maximizing the value of
business assets by delivering valuation, monetization and advisory
solutions to an international marketplace.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191202005461/en/
Sloane & Company Erica Bartsch, 212-446-1875
Ebartsch@sloanepr.com Alex Kovtun, 212-446-1896
Akovtun@sloanepr.com
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