Performance Sports Group Ltd said on Thursday it would seek approval from a U.S. bankruptcy court for the sale of its assets to Power Corp‘s Sagard Capital Partners LP and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, after it failed to attract other bids.
Sagard, Performance’s biggest shareholder, and Fairfax had agreed in October to act as “stalking horse” bidders to buy most of the Bauer ice hockey gear maker’s assets and its North American units for US$575 million.
A “stalking horse” bid is an opening offer that other interested bidders must surpass if they want to buy the company.
The auction scheduled for January 30 will not be held as no qualified bids were submitted by the deadline of January 25, said Performance, which owns Mission Roller Hockey and Maverik Lacrosse brands.
Graeme Roustan, the former chairman of Performance, which had filed for bankruptcy protection in October, was in talks with U.S. and Canadian private equity firms about submitting a bid for the company, Reuters reported then.
Performance, which also makes baseball bats and other sports equipment, said it would seek the approval of the courts for the sale at the final sale hearing, scheduled for February 6.
The closing is expected to occur on or about February 23 and no later than February 27, the company said.
Update: Brookfield Asset Management was among the investors that reportedly considered a bid for Performance Sports. Last October, the firm’s private equity group began negotiations with Sagard about a potential joint transaction.
(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
(This story has been edited by Kirk Falconer, editor of PE Hub Canada)
Photo courtesy of Reuters/John E. Sokolowski
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