Performance Sports Group Ltd., a leading developer and manufacturer of high performance sports equipment and apparel, announced that the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (together, the "Courts") have granted the Company approval of, among other things, the bidding procedures and "stalking horse" bid protections in connection with the previously announced "stalking horse" asset purchase agreement, under which an acquisition vehicle to be co-owned by an affiliate of Sagard Capital Partners, L.P. and Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, intends to acquire substantially all of the assets of the Company and its North American subsidiaries for U.S. $575 million in aggregate and assume related operating liabilities.
Under the approved bidding procedures, interested parties must submit qualified bids to acquire substantially all of the assets of the Company no later than January 25, 2017. The approved bidding procedures schedule the auction for January 30, 2017. A final sale approval hearing is expected to take place shortly after completion of the auction with the anticipated closing of the successful bid to occur by the end of February 2017, subject to receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction or waiver of other customary closing conditions. Throughout the auction and sale process, Performance Sports Group expects its operations will continue uninterrupted in the ordinary course of business and that day-to-day obligations to employees, suppliers of goods and services and the Company's customers will continue to be met.
Performance Sports Group also announced that the Courts have granted final approval for the Company to access an aggregate of U.S. $386 million in term loan debtor-in-possession ("DIP") financing and the balance of the asset-based DIP financing. The Company will use the DIP financing to, among other things, refinance its prepetition term loan credit agreement, dated as of April 15, 2014, as amended, and fund day-to-day operations in the ordinary course of business.
"We are pleased to have reached these important milestones in our financial restructuring process and to move forward as planned to effect an orderly sale of the business as a going concern and maximize value for our stakeholders," said Harlan Kent, Chief Executive Officer of Performance Sports Group. "With final approval to access U.S. $386 million in new financing, together with our ABL DIP, we expect to have sufficient liquidity to fund our ongoing operations and continue serving our customers and consumers and delivering our industry leading products and brands. We are committed to acting in the best interests of Performance Sports Group, our employees and our other stakeholders and look forward to engaging in a robust auction process."
Centerview Partners LLC has been engaged as strategic financial advisor and investment banker and interested parties should contact representatives of Centerview Partners LLC regarding participation in the sale and auction process.
Performance Sports Group Ltd. is a leading developer and manufacturer of ice hockey, roller hockey, lacrosse, baseball and softball sports equipment, as well as related apparel and soccer apparel. The Company is the global leader in hockey with the strongest and most recognized brand, and is a leader in North America in baseball and softball. Its products are marketed under the BAUER, MISSION, MAVERIK, CASCADE, INARIA and EASTON brand names and are distributed by sales representatives and independent distributors throughout the world. In addition, the Company distributes its hockey products through its Burlington, Massachusetts and Bloomington, Minnesota Own The Moment Hockey Experience retail stores.