In Brief: Woodward & Lothrop auction
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Woodward & Lothrop auction: May Department Stores/J.C. Penney emerge as winners of a bidding war for the Washington DC-based department store chain and its John Wanamaker subsidiary in Philadelphia. The approved deal is expected to bring $726.9 mil. in gross proceeds from asset sales and $460 mil. in net distributable value to creditors, Woodward & Lothrop says. The joint bid tops Federated Department Stores' offer of an estimated $702.5 mil. in gross proceeds and $439.1 mil. to creditors. Under the deal -- approved Aug. 8 by Woodward & Lothrop creditors and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York -- May acquires all 14 John Wanamaker stores, three of the existing 15 Woodward & Lothrop stores in the DC area, and two warehouses. J.C. Penney will acquire seven Woodies' stores and transfer the White Marsh, MD store to a local real estate developer, Woodward & Lothrop says. The remaining stores are being liquidated. Woodward & Lothrop filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 1994...