Well, Someone Bid $15 Million For What’s Left Of RadioShack

The controversial sale of RadioShack’s intellectual property continues: an attorney who represents the chain’s network of franchisees and dealers says that the current high bidder is the most logical buyer for the name and intellectual property: the same affiliate of hedge fund Standard General that purchased fewer than half of RadioShack’s stores and is running them in partnership with mobile carrier Sprint. Update: The final bid was $26.2 million.

These stores have the right to use the RadioShack brand name for another five months, but the new bosses weren’t especially concerned about the brand name itself. However, an attorney representing the Shack’s franchisees and dealers says that Standard General is the current high bidder for what’s left of RadioShack, having bid $15 million.

No one is particularly concerned about items like the RadioShack brand name or trademarks for house-brand items, but the most controversial part of this sale has been the company’s mailing lists, which have millions of e-mail addresses and mailing addresses. The state attorney general of Texas was the first to be concerned, and AT&T and Apple have also objected to the sale of data that was collected when their customers made purchases at RadioShack.

The bankruptcy auction has a customer data privacy ombudsman, who will issue a report on the sale of personally identifiable information, and RadioShack also agreed to mediation after a winner is chosen.

In auction for RadioShack name, bid stands at $15 million [Reuters]

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