In a marathon session lasting nearly 24 hours, CONSOR established a sequestered bidding process in the offices of a well-known law firm in New York City. Chief among the assets to be sold was the name itself, which with accompanying assets sold for $1.8 million.
CONSOR then separately sold other intangibles of use to particular buyers, For example, the Fortunoff Wizard Warehousing System was sold to Hudson Bay Company. In addition, the fine china replacement company, Replacements Limited, and the jewelry company, Michael Fina, each purchased access to part of the customer database. Counsel for the unsecured creditors, Arent Fox, told the judge that the committee was very gratified with the outcome of the auction — and particularly noted that the grueling 22 hour marathon auction had resulted in nearly $2m in incremental value that hadn’t been expected. Similarly, Sidley Austin, representing the Fortunoff estate, was highly laudatory in their comments on the success of the auction.
With this sale, all of the assets of Fortunoff have been disposed. Notably, the Fortunoff name remains in the hands of the founding families of Fortunoff, who put up the winning bid for the Fortunoff name and trademarks.
Intellectual Property Assets of Friedman’s Jewelers and Crescent Jewelers to be Sold with Aid of CONSOR Intellectual Property Management.