LID New York to Sell Assets

Rob Bates, Senior Editor -- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 4/11/2008 8:37:00 AM

The New York office of LID, currently operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, plans to sell most of its assets in a “363 sale” and has “no plans to remain open,” according to the company’s restructuring officer.

“At this point there is no plan for the business going forward,” said Chris Ellis of Consensus Advisors, the company’s chief restructuring officer appointed by the court. “We haven’t yet finalized a firm date for this auction, but we want to do it in the first week in May to take advantage of the JCK Show.”

According to the bankruptcy filings, when LID “defaulted under [its] settlement order by failing to make the Initial Payment to the [company’s] Lenders,” the lenders were given the ability “to take immediate possession and control of the Debtors’ Assets.”

However, lenders are allowing LID to have a sale of its remaining “loose stone and finished jewelry inventory.”

Ellis noted most of the company’s employees have been given severance, approved by the banks.

LID New York’s parent company, LID Israel, which had been a DTC sightholder, is also operating under a court-appointed receiver in Israel, according to a release last year.

Still unclear was the fate of Four Points Corporation, the retail chain owned by LID Israel. It is also in Chapter 11.

According to the most recent papers, it has already closed 14 of its 29 stores.