UPDATE: Investor group looking to buy Bon-Ton company, wanting to keep stores open
Updated: 5:38 a.m. on April 10, 2018
SOUTHEAST Wis. (CBS 58) -- The Bon-Ton Stores received a signed letter of intent on Monday from an investor group to buy the company.
According to a press release, the investor group is made up of DW Partners, Namdar Realty Group and Washington Prime Group.
An auction scheduled to be held Monday is now being held on April 16.
At this time, the company’s stores remain open.
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Posted: 4:16 p.m. on April 6, 2018
SOUTHEAST Wis. (CBS 58) -- Bon-Ton Stores has notified state officials that 13 locations in Wisconsin are at risk of closing, which would impact more than 2,250 employees.
Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February. On Friday, the company sent out a required public notice to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development that some stores, including six Boston Store locations in southeast Wisconsin and the corporate office located on Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Milwaukee, could close if a deal is not reached.
In a statement obtained by our news partners in Madison, the company said:
“We are required to provide notification under certain state and federal laws of potential job losses even as we work diligently to complete a sale of the Company as a going concern. Bon-Ton is in active discussions with an investor group to acquire the Company in a court-supervised sale process. We are encouraged by the interest in Bon-Ton and we hope that jobs will be preserved through a sale process. We remain committed to pursuing the best path forward for the Company and its stakeholders, including Bon-Ton associates.”
The stores that could close in our area include:
Boston Store at the Shops of Grand Avenue
Boston Store at Bayshore Mall
Boston Store at Regency Mall
Boston Store at Brookfield Square Mall
Boston Store at Southridge Mall
Boston Store at Mayfair Mall.
The possible closures would begin in June of 2018.
To check the full list of Wisconsin locations at risk of closing on the list sent to the Department of Workforce Development (DWD), see below.
According to a March 30 press release from Bon-Ton Stores Inc., the company announced that it was "in active discussions with interested parties in respect of a going-concern bid to acquire the Company in a Bankruptcy Court-supervised sale process" and that "as a result of these discussions, Bon-Ton sought and received approval from its lenders to extend the deadline for submitting qualified bids from April 2, 2018, to April 4, 2018. Bon-Ton will evaluate all qualified bids with the assistance of its advisors to determine which bids maximize value for the Company and all of its stakeholders."
The release goes on to say in part:
"the Company expects to conduct an auction pursuant to section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on April 9, 2018, after which a Court hearing will take place to approve a sale on April 13, 2018."
To see the full release, please click here.
Workers affected by permanent layoff can access basic re-employment services at no charge through the state's Job Centers. Some services, including training assistance, may be an option for some workers after enrolling in one or more of DWD's workforce development programs. More information about advance notice requirements is available at https://dwd.wisconsin.gov/dislocatedworker/.