A week after an attorney for Sports Authority told a bankruptcy court that the sporting goods retailer would not continue and planned to liquidate its assets, the company says the term “liquidation” is not in its vocabulary, at least not yet. 

The company, which filed for bankruptcy last month, is still looking for a buyer for more than 450 stores across the country, the Wall Street Journal reports, and expectations are that “substantial parties” will soon make offers for the retailer’s operations.

“Contrary to rumors and certain press reports, the debtors are not liquidating today,” Robert Klyman said at a hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on Tuesday. “Liquidation is not in our vocabulary.”

Klyman told the judge that a “stalking horse” — a potential buyer that would make a baseline tender offer for an auction — was not identified by the April 28 deadline to obtain an offer, but that interest in Sports Authority’s assets “remains high.” A deal could be reached before a May 16 asset auction that would include a separate auction for 140 leases on stores that were previously earmarked to be liquidated, he said.

The judge told Klyman she would enter the final bankruptcy financing order, stabilizing Sports Authority for the time being.

If no viable bids are made before May 16, the chain could face liquidation, Bloomberg reports.

Sports Authority Anticipates Buyer for ‘Major Portions’ of Stores [The Wall Street Journal]
Sports Authority, still seeking buyer, says it’s not liquidating [Bloomberg]

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