Bruce Berman wins bidding for The RoomPlace
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, December 14, 2011
LOMBARD, Ill. — Bruce Berman, former CEO of The RoomPlace here, said he appears to have won the auction for the 23-store furniture chain.
Last week, RoomPlace's senior secured lender, The PrivateBank and Trust Co., ran a notice of public sale in the Chicago Tribune, saying it would sell substantially all of the assets of Harlem Furniture - operating as The RoomPlace, Harlem Furniture and other names - at an auction held today.
It also said TRP Acquisitions had signed an asset purchase agreement and would serve as the stalking horse bidder with a bid valued at about $15.1 million. Berman later confirmed that he was the sole person behind TRP, and should he win at auction, he said, "I expect to return (RoomPlace) to the powerful retailer it once was."
He said he has heard there is at least one other bidder, but couldn't elaborate. According to the sale notice, additional bids would have to exceed the stalking horse bid by more than $1 million.
"It appears mine was the winning bid," Berman said in an email today, adding that more information would follow.
Berman, whose family founded The RoomPlace, then known as Harlem Furniture, here in 1950, sold a majority stake in the company to an investor group in 2004 and was later forced out of his leadership role in 2009. He eventually was replaced by Steve Giordano, who left in November to lead Richmond, Va.-based RoomStore, which just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Berman said he still holds a 25% stake in the Lombard, Ill.-based business, and he and his brother Ron Berman own five Chicago-area store buildings and the distribution center in Woodridge, Ill.
Furniture/Today reported last year that the RoomPlace was owned by private equity firms Pouschine Cook Capital Management, Bear Growth Capital Partners and Altamont Capital.
The retailer is No. 39 on Furniture/Today's Top 100 with estimated 2010 sales of $160 million at 23 stores primarily in greater Chicago but also in Rockford, Ill., Indianapolis and Mishawaka, Ind. The sales were down 11.1% from $180 million in 2009.
In a release obtained by Furniture/Today about the asset purchase agreement, which is subject to a higher and better offer, the retailer said the buyer "intends to continue going concern operations, intends to honor all customer deposits and orders, and intends to retain virtually all of the company's employees."
Joe Connolly, the retailer's president and CEO, said in the statement, "We are pleased that we have been able to find a buyer for Harlem, who will continue going concern operations and restore Harlem to its position of prominence in the Chicagoland and Indiana retail furniture markets."
Check back at furnituretoday.com for updates.
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