NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp said on Wednesday it has taken over responsibility for underfunded pensions of sportswear retailer Eddie Bauer Inc. The plan, which covers more than 1,800 former workers and retirees, was 58 percent funded, with $29.8 million in assets to cover $51.4 million in benefit liabilities, the [...]

Golden Gate Capital has completed its acquisition of the assets of Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. The deal was valued at $286 million in cash.

WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) – Golden Gate Capital won an auction for the assets of Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc with an all-cash bid of $286 million, the bankrupt outdoor apparel retailer said on Friday. Eddie Bauer filed for protection under Chapter 11 of U.S. Bankruptcy Code in June with a plan to sell its assets to [...]

In case anyone wondered if CCMP Capital was serious about retail investing after the firm’s stalking horse bid for bankrupt Eddie Bauer, today’s news reaffirms it: The firm has hired Richard Zannino, former Dow Jones CEO, Saks Fifth Avenue CFO and Liz Clairborne EVP.

Zannino will be busy helping the firm identify targets as CCMP seeks to deploy the remaining 75% of its $3.4 billion fund, which closed in 2007. I spoke with Zannino and Managing Director Jonathan Lynch on CCMP’s enthusiasm for distressed retail deals and why Zannino is “not a fan” of traditional media assets.

(Reuters) Bankrupt outdoor clothing retailer Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc’s (EBHIQ.PK) two key creditors are looking to liquidate its stores and cash in on the brand in a string of licensing deals, The New York Post reported. Monarch Alternative Capital and Anchorage Advisors — a pair of New York hedge funds that together control Eddie Bauer’s [...]

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apparel maker VF Corp (VFC.N) is a “party of interest” in the auction for the assets of bankrupt retailer Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc (EBHIQ.PK), according to a court document. Eddie Bauer, an outdoor apparel chain that filed for Chapter 11 protection last month, has about 370 stores in North America and [...]

Retailer Eddie Bauer yesterday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and agreed to be acquired by CCMP Capital for $202 million. So we have 5 Question for Jonathan Lynch, a managing director of CCMP Capital who worked on the deal:

1. Your firm took a hard look at Eddie Bauer five years ago, when you were still known as JPMorgan Partners. Why did you pass back then?

Very simply, it was a company that was going in the wrong direction. They were focused on a segment – women’s casual apparel – that a lot of other people were focused on, but it was antithetical to what the Eddie Bauer brand was known for. So it was the wrong direction with the wrong management team, which meant we were not compelled to do it.

I always tell people that, in order to engineer a successful change in direction, you need to do four things: recognize the problem, set strategy to fix that problem, have the right people in place and then execute really well.

Eddie Bauer is three of those four steps into that process right now, and that’s very different than where the company was in 2004. Back then, management didn’t even recognize the problem, so they certainly couldn’t execute against it.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc (EBHI.O) is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday and announce a deal to be bought by CCMP Capital Advisors, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited a person familiar with the situation. Another buyer can still top the CCMP deal in a [...]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Suitors are lining up to buy assets of U.S. clothing retailer Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc (EBHI.O) ahead of an expected bankruptcy filing within the next few weeks, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Hilco Consumer Capital is in talks with the outdoor apparel retailer about a possible deal once a bankruptcy filing occurs, and private equity firm CCMP Capital Advisors LLC is weighing an offer for the company, these people said.

The people asked not to be named because the talks are not public.

An Eddie Bauer representative did not immediately return a call seeking comment.