Foreside exploring strategic alternatives
Staff -- Home Accents Today, 9/1/2006
Wellesley, Mass.-based investment bank Tully & Holland, Inc. has been hired by The Foreside Company of Gorham, Maine, to explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection this spring following a spiral that began in 2000 with a failed acquisition according to Stuart Rose, the bank's managing director.
Foreside, a wholesaler and retailer of imported home accents, sells to catalogs, national chains, big-box stores, and more than 5,000 independent boutiques. In business for more than 15 years, Foreside has seven retail stores in the northeast that sell overstock, out-of-season, and first-run merchandise. "Foreside presents a terrific opportunity for a strategic investor as the company returns to profitability," Rose said.
In its petition, Foreside listed assets of $6.14 million and $9.19 million in debts. Some of its largest unsecured creditors include shipping companies and manufacturers in India, Taiwan and China.
In May, federal bankruptcy court Judge James B. Haines Jr. approved financing in the amount of $700,000 from Chittenden Bank to keep Foreside operational during its financial reorganization. An earlier motion by Chittenden to convert the bankruptcy filing from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7, which would have led to liquidation, was dismissed by Haines.
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