Rock & Republic Deal Breaks Apart
Negotiations to pull Los Angeles denim maker Rock & Republic out of bankruptcy have crumbled.
According to a Dec. 10 article in the New York Post, the deal between New York–based investor Bluestar Alliance—which owns the Sharper Image, Hot Kiss and Liz Lange brands—and Michael Ball, founder of Rock & Republic, has fallen through.
Calls to Rock & Republic, Bluestar Alliance and Ball were not returned.
Bluestar, whose GR Acquisition LLC subsidiary was working on the deal, valued at between $33 million and $48 million, had an exclusive bargaining window until Dec. 17.
This means that Rock & Republic will probably be auctioned off in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York some time next year after several potential buyers took a look at the company and failed to make an offer.
GR Acquisition was interested in buying the brand name and then licensing it back to Ball for the denim market, sources said.
Rock & Republic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protectionon April 1, the day before a $15 million loan was scheduled to be paid back to Richard Koral, a Los Angeles apparel executive who worked with Rock & Republic to sell its off-priced goods. As collateral, Rock & Republic put up its brand name.
Koral is the only secured creditor in the bankruptcy filing and is first in line to collect his debt.—Deborah Belgum
