Toys R Us has rejected an $890m bid for some of its US stores and locations in Canada from the CEO of MGA Entertainment, according to reports.
Last week, MGA CEO Isaac Larian, who said the wind-down of Toys R Us would hurt the toy industry long-term, offered $675m for the US stores, and $215m for Canadian stores.
“I haven’t yet been notified of the bid rejection but if this is true, it is very disappointing,” Larian said in a statement. “It is our hope and expectation that we can continue to participate in the bid process, so we can keep fighting to save Toys R Us. We feel confident that we submitted a fair valuation of the company’s US assets in an effort to save the business and over 130,000 domestic jobs.”
The offer does not exceed the value of Toys R Us in a liquidation of its assets, according to an anonymous source.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that Toys R Us had turned down Larian’s offer.
Taking to LinkedIn following the news, Isaac posted: “It aint over till the fat lady sings. But, every day that goes by, the value goes down and more people suffer. I don’t need the money or the extra work. I’m doing this to save an iconic brand and save jobs of over 130,000 affected people in the USA alone. It’s time for advisers, lawyers, creditors of notes (who speculated and bought these debts cheap) to reach out to their higher consciousness and come to table and make a deal to keep TRU as an ongoing concern instead of liquidation. The time is now.”
