Tweeter Acquired for $38 Million

Tweeter Home Entertainment Group, Inc., whch declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 11, accepted a $38 million bid for a "going concern" acquisition from Schultze Asset Management, a firm specializing in "distressed positions."

Tweeter had also received a $10 million bid for its 18.75% share of Tivoli from Whippoorwill Associates, Inc. and Bay Harbour Management on June 26. The Schultze bid includes that stake, as well as all of Tweeter's business operations and assets. In its "going concern" bid, Schultze has agreed to keep all 103 outlets open and is retaining the Tweeter management team.

The deal was approved by the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, DE. Some vendors have expressed concerns about how the Schultze acquisition will change Tweeter's destiny. "The [Tweeter] business model has already proven not to be profitable, so what will the new Tweeter look like?" Bob Weissburg, president of D&M Holdings North America told This Week in Consumer Electronics. "If they stay the course, there's not a long future in that."

We're not so sure. As we have reported in the past, Tweeter has already done a lot of the hard work: It dropped its 49 least-performing stores, it has restructured from the top down, and its "CE playground" stores have been profitable and popular. What Tweeter seemed to need more than anything else was time—and it looks like Schultze is betting $38 million to that effect.

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