Dive Brief:
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Hedge fund Standard General's heavily credit-laden bid was a sticking point at the Monday bankruptcy auction of RadioShack stores, extending the auction into Tuesday.
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Standard General is the only bidder that aims to keep stores open in a planned partnership with Sprint, and says its bid is greater than any other by $20 million or more.
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But other creditors, which would like to obtain every asset scrap in order to recoup their money, are crying foul because Standard General’s bid involves canceling loans.
Dive Insight:
Standard General says it’s dedicated to getting its credit bid deemed valid, sources say. That’s pretty much holding up the nuts and bolts of this auction, which may not really get underway until RadioShack comes to an agreement with the creditors committee on this issue first.
Right now it’s hard to tell how things will settle, but what is clear is that the Standard General bid is the only way any RadioShack stores — even the relatively tiny number of 1,700 — will stay open.