By Peg Brickley
British retailer Sports Direct International Ltd. (SPD.LN) won't get a
shot at owning Prince Sports' tennis racket brand after all.
Tuesday, a bankruptcy judge signed off on a licensing deal with Battle
Sports Science LLC after Prince International Inc. won unsecured
creditors over to support the arrangement.
Unsecured creditors had challenged the Battle Sports license for the
brand identified with stars such as Jimmy Connors and Martina
Navratilova on the grounds it had not been tested in competitive
bidding.
A Sport Direct affiliate offered $20 million, for openers, for the
brand. Creditors said that was proof that there could be a better
licensing partner for the brand than Prince's choice, Battle Sports.
The official committee representing unsecured creditors dropped their
opposition, however, after Prince Sports offered them a $4 million
cash payment under the plan of reorganization that will take the
company out of bankruptcy.
The action came after talks during a break at a hearing in the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court of Wilmington, Del., according to William Hazeltine,
attorney for Battle Sports Science. He's with Sullivan Hazeltine
Allinson LLC.
Besides sports brand licensing, Battle Sports makes helmets and other
protective equipment, and is developing a product that measures
impacts in contact sports, Mr. Hazeltine said.
Prince Sports is due to become the property of Authentic Brands Group
LLC, a brand developer that bought the company's top-level debt
earlier this year, under a Chapter 11 plan that must be voted on by
creditors and approved by the court.
(Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review covers news about distressed
companies and those under bankruptcy protection. Go to
http://dbr.dowjones.com)
Write to Peg Brickley at peg.brickley@dowjones.com
Corrections & Amplifications
This story was corrected at 15:46 EDT to reflect the misspelled name
of Battle Sports Science in the headline and throughout the body of
the story. The correct name is Battle Sports Science, not Battle Sport
Science.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 20, 2012 14:51 ET (18:51 GMT)
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