Alpha Omega is Sold
-- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 1/25/2008 8:21:00 AM
A federal bankruptcy judge on Friday approved the sale of Boston-based Alpha Omega Jewelers, according to local media reports.
The troubled luxury jewelry and watch retail chain was sold to a consortium comprising of Tiger Capital Group LLC of Boston, The Gordon Co. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and SB Capital Group of Great Neck, New York, the Boston Business Journal reports. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge William C. Hillman approved the sale Friday morning.
Under the agreement, the consortium will operate Alpha Omega Jewelers through the liquidation sale, the publication reports. Following the sale, the Natick Collection and Prudential Center stores will be re-merchandised and will re-open as part of the Ross-Simons jewelry chain. All of Alpha Omega's current employees will be offered an opportunity interview for positions within the Ross-Simons organization.
The consortium is reportedly working with potential retailers to assume the leases of The Burlington and Cambridge locations, the publication reports.
It was reported previously that the consortium agreed to purchase the chain's assets for $18.7 million, just over 70 percent of its value, from the LaSalle Business Credit arm of Bank of America Corp., which seized possession of Alpha Omega's inventory on Dec. 22, a few days after the owner Raman Handa and their two grown children who work for the family business left the country without notifying relatives or business associates.
Company assets will be liquidated following a review of inventory, the publication reports. Court-authorized price reductions will be effective immediately. Alpha Omega's entire multi-million dollar inventory of diamonds, fine jewelry, and watches will be targeted for immediate sale at all Alpha Omega locations, which are in Cambridge, Boston, Burlington, and Natick.
