Borders to Liquidate

Borders Group has canceled its auction and will sell itself to a group of liquidators, the company announced yesterday. The second-largest U.S. bookstore chain was not able to find any investors willing to strike a deal to salvage its 400 remaining stores

April 6, 2018

The second-largest U.S. bookstore chain was not able to find any investors willing to strike a deal to salvage its 400 remaining stores and nearly 11,000 employees. The company will allow Hilco and Gordon Brothers to purchase the store assets of the business and administer the liquidation process.

A liquidation group led by Hilco Merchant Resources will begin liquidations as early as Friday, Borders said in a statement. The bookseller will seek bankruptcy court approval of the closing procedures at a hearing set for Thursday.

The chain is expected to go out of business for good in September,

The Wall Street Journal

reported.

"Following the best efforts of all parties, we are saddened by this development," says Mike Edwards, Borders Group president. "We were all working hard towards a different outcome, but the headwinds we have been facing for quite some time, including the

rapidly changing book industry, eReader revolution, and turbulent economy, have brought us to where we are now."

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