Books-A-Million Reportedly Interested in Some Borders Stores

By Jason Boog 

Last night Borders’ deadline to secure new bidders passed without offers from new parties.

UPDATE: Borders is seeking court approval of a liquidation bid. They will close 399 stores and cut 10,700 jobs.

According to a Reuters report, the bookselling chain Books-A-Million is considering buying “less than 50” of Borders’ stores.

Currently, a liquidation company has the lead bid in the bookseller’s impending auction–the bankruptcy court auction is currently scheduled for tomorrow. Borders’ $215 million bid from investor Jahm Najafi unraveled last week, and liquidation has loomed ever since. The Wall Street Journal noted: “Borders is likely to entertain offers right up until the scheduled auction in the hopes a white knight will emerge to save the chain.”

Here’s more from Reuters: “Interest in some stores from Books-A-Million, which bills itself as the third-largest U.S. bookstore chain, represents hope for at least a portion of Borders’ roughly 400 stores and 11,000 employees. Borders also has the option of accepting late bids, and could go ahead with an auction slated for Tuesday despite its current lack of participants, in hopes that a last-minute buyer emerges.”

Editor’s note: This post has been corrected to read “less than 50” of Borders stores.