Sailing, Sanpower-owned Brookstone files for bankruptcy

Brookstone's online store will remain open, as will its 35 stores in airports, the company said on Twitter. The company is seeking a buyer for those assets in a bankruptcy auction, along with its intellectual property and brand name, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited court filings. It will remain operational through the auction process via a $30 million loan.

Brookstone was founded as a catalog company for hard-to-find tools in 1965, but is best known for its eclectic assortment of luxury consumer gadgets, including massage chairs, smart phone accessories and pocket projectors. However, it struggled to remain competitive amid the rise of e-commerce and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2014.

Sailing and Sanpower acquired Brookstone out of its last bankruptcy for $173 million, beating out a $146.3 million bid from the owner of domestic gift shop chain Spencer's. At the time the company had 240 stores in malls and airports. Its business has continued to suffer in subsequent years as foot traffic in shopping malls has declined and retail customers shift to online shopping.

Sailing was formed in 2012 by Shanghai International Group with the aim of aiding overseas acquisitions by Chinese companies via a RMB50 billion ($8 billion) fund. Recent investments include a $60 million commitment to artificial intelligence developer Sense Time in 2017 and a $114 million funding round, co-led by Singapore's Temasek Holdings, in vegetarian food technology company Impossible Foods earlier this year.

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• Topics
• North America
• Consumer
• Restructuring
• Financing
• USA
• sailing capital