Bracewell Deal Selected 363 Sale of the Year by The M&A Advisor for the 12th Annual Turnaround Awards

HOUSTON – Bracewell LLP is pleased to announce that The M&A Advisor has selected the 363 sale of Eastern Outfitters as winner of the Sec. 363 Sale of the Year (Over $100MM to $250MM) as part of The M&A Advisor’s 12th Annual Turnaround Awards. The Turnaround Awards honor the leading transactions, companies and dealmakers in the distressed investing and reorganization industry. The awards will be presented at a black tie gala on March 21, 2018, at The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida.

Bracewell represented Eastern Outfitters LLC and its affiliates (collectively, EO) as lead bankruptcy counsel in their Chapter 11 proceedings. EO filed for bankruptcy protection after falling victim to the cataclysmic downturn in the sports retail sector that has claimed many of its competitors. Bucking the trend, however, Bracewell assisted EO in securing a stalking horse bid from and consummating a sale of EO’s assets under Sec. 363 of the Bankruptcy Code to SportsDirect.com Retail Ltd. (SportsDirect), the UK’s largest sporting goods retailer. The businesses acquired included approximately 50 retail stores in the United States under the Bob’s Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports names, as well as a number of e-commerce sites. By all accounts, this was the only successful 363 sale in the sports retail space this year.