Toys ‘R’ Us gets $1 b bids for 85% of Asian business

Reuters: Retailer Toys ‘R’ Us has received multiple bids of more than $1 billion for an 85% stake in its Asian business, as the bankrupt company moves ahead with plans to sell some non-US operations, its lawyer Joshua Sussberg said.

Toys ‘R’ Us, once the largest US toy retailer, last month abandoned a plan to emerge from US Chapter 11 as a slimmer, reorganised company after a dismal holiday sales season.

The company has said it will try to maintain more profitable locations in Europe and Asia as an on-going business, while it liquidates its US and UK operations.

Speaking at a US Bankruptcy Court hearing in Richmond, Virginia, Sussberg said the company was in advanced discussions with a buyer for its Central European business.

In the United States, liquidation sales and real estate auctions were going better than expected, Sussberg said, creating additional money to repay creditors.

Toys ‘R’ Us suppliers have expressed concern in court papers over payments on hundreds of millions of dollars of toys that had been shipped before the company announced its liquidation plans. Industry executives and specialists have warned that many small vendors could go bankrupt themselves, due to the disappearance of Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us in the United States.

The retailer, with nearly 1,600 stores when it filed for bankruptcy protection in September, was the largest dedicated showcase for toys ranging from popular classics like Lego to innovative trends by small companies.