Dive Brief:

• Philadelphia-based private equity firm Versa Capital Management LLC will take over Wet Seal clothing stores and invest $10 million to help right the company, after the firm prevailed at Thursday’s bankruptcy auction.

• The investment firm will work with the retailer’s current management team and take over at least 140 store leases.

• Versa beat out Los Angeles-based B. Riley Financial Inc. at the auction.

Dive Insight:

That this bankruptcy auction process was so competitive bodes well for the teen apparel retailer; it has a chance of paring down, restructuring, and turning around rather than shutting down. Apparel retailers Delia’s, Cache, and Deb Stores have not been so lucky.

Versa CEO Gregory Segall acknowledged the tough retail landscape but said Wet Seal still holds promise. 

[Versa] “determined that Wet Seal, among the many companies we evaluated, was best positioned in the marketplace,” Segall said after the auction. “Thus we pursued this deal with determination.”