Court Approves Sale Procedures For Bankrupt Retail Supplier Serving Hundreds Of Thousands Of Customers

A bankruptcy court has given approval for the sale process and competitive bidding procedures proposed by Liberty Power Holdings, LLC (the Debtor), for sale of substantially all of the Debtor’s assets

"Pursuant to the Interim DIP Financing Order and in order to maximize the value of its assets for the benefit of all stakeholders in this Chapter 11 case, the Debtor intends to proceed with the sale of all or substantially all of its assets, including without limitation, retail customer contracts and associated receivables (collectively, the 'Assets')," Liberty Power Holdings had proposed

The Debtor currently serves "hundreds of thousands" of customer accounts in 15 states, Liberty Power Holdings said in the motion. In a statement released at the time of its initial Chapter 11 filing, Liberty Power Holdings had specifically said that it serves over 330,000 "retail customer equivalents."

Based on a change in the proposed date for a hearing on a sale resulting from the process (moved a few days later to Aug. 31), there may be a day or two change in some of the dates originally proposed by Debtor.

As originally proposed, the bidding process would include the following deadlines:

Initial Indication of Interest Deadline: July 16, 2021

Bid Deadline: August 16, 2021

Selection of Highest and Best Offer for Auction: August 19, 2021

Auction: August 20, 2021

"The Debtor reserves the right, following consultation with and the consent of BETM [Boston Energy Trading and Marketing, LLC], to enter into a Stalking Horse Purchase Agreement and to offer a Qualified Bidder an Expense Reimbursement and/or a Breakup Fee, in each case to be negotiated and subject to approval of the Bankruptcy Court," the Debtor proposed

"At this time, the Debtor is not in a position to present a stalking horse buyer to the Court for approval in connection with the proposed bidding and sale procedures contained herein. The Debtor intends to continue to work towards an agreement for a stalking horse buyer and reserves the right to seek approval of one or more stalking horse transactions and related protections for the stalking horse buyers. The Debtor believes it is in the best interest of all stakeholders to proceed with an auction sale of its Assets at this time, with or without a stalking horse, so that a sale can be completed by the end of August 2021 as required by the Interim DIP Financing Order," the Debtor proposed

The proposed sales process provides that the Debtor’s bankruptcy estate shall not be liable for any broker’s commissions related to the sale of the Debtor’s Assets. "Broker’s Commissions" defined herein does not include reference to those certain Brokers approved as Critical Vendors by order of the bankruptcy court entered on May 3, 2021