Judge Rejects 2 Offers for PTL : Orders That Bidding ‘Start From Scratch’
A U.S. bankruptcy judge today rejected auction offers from two Canadian businessmen for the assets of PTL and ordered that bidding “start from scratch.”
Judge Rufus Reynolds said the offers did not meet the financial conditions he set down Wednesday.
The auction today between two Canadian businessmen had been expected to close the books on the evangelical empire built by Jim and Tammy Bakker before a sex-and-money scandal forced it to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.
Reynolds scheduled another auction Dec. 12 and said he will approve a buyer the next day, warning that if the case is not concluded by then, “I will not put up with this case any longer under (Chapter) 11. I will move it to Chapter 7.”
Chapter 7 involves the liquidation of all assets. Under Chapter 11, the company develops a plan to put its finances in order.
Vancouver real estate magnate Peter Thomas opened the bidding today with a $70-million cash offer that would allow him to back out of the deal within a certain time after closing--a provision Reynolds objected to.
Canadian businessman Stephen Mernick today bid $115 million with a $50-million initial payment, but Reynolds objected that there were inadequate assurances that Mernick would pay the remaining $65 million.
