The former owner of Seafolly, which put the brand into voluntary administration in late June, has emerged as the leading contender to buy the brand back, according to Australian news reports.
The former owner is L Catterton, a private equity firm that acquired Seafolly in 2014 and is backed by luxury company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Its new bid for Seafolly will be voted on by creditors on Aug. 3.
An entity related to L Catterton is also the largest creditor in the voluntary administration case but will forgo some of that debt so other creditors can receive more money, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Voluntary administration in Australia is similar to the bankruptcy process in the U.S. The administrators who managed Seafolly during the process have renegotiated leases, shuttered some stores, reduced costs at the brand’s head office and put in purchase orders for new product through March.
Eighty companies expressed interest in acquiring Seafolly with 15 formal bids. The administrators determined L Catterton’s offer was the most competitive.
Seafolly recorded A$112 million (about US $80.2 million) in the most recent fiscal year, according to news reports.
