Dive Brief:
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Hedge fund Standard General LLP Tuesday raised its bid by at least $20 million at the bankruptcy auction that will decide the fate of electronics retailer RadioShack, sources familiar with the process told Reuters. The auction went into its second day Tuesday.
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The Dallas Morning News reported that Standard General’s bid prevailed Tuesday, but there is not yet any approval of a sale by the bankruptcy court.
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Meanwhile, the states of Texas and Tennessee and AT&T have formally objected to the sale of RadioShack customers’ personal data.
Dive Insight:
It looks like Standard General is likely to prevail and take over RadioShack stores, though that may not be finalized until Wednesday or Thursday. But another issue could delay the process, and that’s the fight brewing over customer data. In past years, customer lists were routinely sold as assets in bankruptcy proceedings, but things are changing in a world where data floating around can lead to identity theft.
The states say that the retailer promised customers online and in stores that their data would never be rented or sold, and AT&T is saying that some of the data isn’t even RadioShack’s to sell. The retailer is saying that all bets, like some financial obligations, are off in the context of bankruptcy and that the mobile company and the states are overstating the problem.
If customer data is sold, it would pretty much feel like a broken promise to consumers, though, and that could add to shoppers’ reluctance to share data when it comes to beacons or mobile transactions.