KPS Capital Ventures (KPS) has offered to purchase Briggs & Stratton in a stalking horse bid after the latter filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 on Monday.
The Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based small engines maker announced that it had accepted KPS’s offer wherein the capital venture firm would acquire most of the company’s assets and assume some of its liabilities through a Section 363 process, where the sale of the company would be conducted under court supervision. Moreover, KPS has also agreed to be a stalking horse bidder, which would mean that the court could cancel the bid if Briggs received a higher offer from another bidder during the sale process.
During the process, the company plans to continue producing, selling and distributing its small engines and commercial batteries.
Briggs filed for Bankruptcy before receiving KPS’s offer on Monday to “facilitate the sale process and address its debt obligations,” the company said in a press release.The company said it had received a debt in possession financing of $677.5mn of which $265mn was committed by KPS while the balance was extended to the company by its current set of lenders.
The company had explored several options to shore up its financial position in a market with weak demand because of COVID-19, Todd Teske, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of the small engines maker said in a statement. The current offer, he added, gave the company support to execute its strategic plan and “bring greater value,” to its channel partners and customers.