Bankrupt children’s retailer Gymboree Group Inc. has found buyers for its Janie and Jack business, as well as its core Gymboree asset and Crazy 8 operation.
At a bankruptcy court auction Friday, Gap Inc. was selected as the winning bidder for Janie and Jack. Gap has agreed to pay $35 million for the name, which includes related intellectual property assets.
Separately, the core Gymboree and related IP assets, along with the Crazy 8 name and IP, was sold to an affiliate of The Children’s Place, TCP Brands, for $76 million.
Information about the court-approved auction was detailed in the bankruptcy docket for the Gymboree bankruptcy case. Saturday’s filing also noted that a court hearing in Richmond, Va., is slated for Monday for final approval of the sale.
Gymboree on Jan. 17 filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection in Richmond. The company filed so it could conduct an orderly wind down of operations, as well as shutter all doors. Special Situations Investing Group Inc., the pre-petition lender, had been selected as the stalking horse using a credit bid of $85 million. As in any bankruptcy auction, the bids are subject to better offers at auction. In this case, the combined separate bids bested the stalking horse bid by $45 million.
Gymboree’s bankruptcy was its second Chapter 11 filing in as many years. The January filing was expected, following rumblings in the credit markets.
About 900 stores will go dark. Going-out-of-business sales are ongoing at all doors across the three brands in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.