Billionaire toy maker's bid to save Toys R Us stores rejected

Joan Verdon | The (Bergen County, N.J.) Record

Show Caption Hide Caption A billionaire just bid $890 million to save Toys R Us Toys R Us Might not being going down after all. Veuer's Sam Berman has the full story.

It looks like billionaire toy manufacturer Isaac Larian won't get to realize his dream of saving Toys R Us.

Attorneys and advisers for the bankrupt retailer have decided that Larian's bid of $890 million for 274 U.S. stores and the Canadian operations doesn't meet the minimum threshold to be a valid bid, according to a source familiar with the deliberations.

Larian has argued since Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy in September that the death of Toys R Us would be a fatal blow for many companies int the toy industry. He has also said he has a personal motivation — a desire to share the Toys R Us experience with his new grandson's generation, and future Toys R Us kids.

Toys R Us, a chain that was a touchstone for millions of American children, is still undergoing a bankruptcy liquidation sale that means it is likely to disappear from the retail landscape.

Larian said in a statement emailed to The Record that he hasn't been notified that the bid had been rejected.

“If this is true, it is very disappointing," Larian said. "It is our hope and expectation that we can continue to participate in the bid process, so we can keep fighting to save Toys “R” Us," he said. ". We feel confident that we submitted a fair valuation of the company's U.S. assets in an effort to save the business and over 130,000 domestic jobs."

Larian last week announced he and a group of investors had offered $675 million for the U.S. stores and $215 million for the Canadian operations.

Larian's bid apparently did not match the liquidated value of the assets he was attempting to buy, insiders said.

Toys R Us, under bankruptcy law, has a responsibility to its creditors to maximize the value of its assets in order to pay off its debts.

"It's all about the dollars," said veteran toy journalist Jim Silver, editor of toy review website TTPM. "The court has no emotional ties to the decision. It's about the liquidated value."

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Larian is chief executive of MGA Entertainment, a toy manufacturer that owns the Little Tikes brand of outdoor toys and that created the current collectible toy craze, L.O.L. Surprise. MGA Entertainment and Larian first became major players in the toy world when MGA launched the Bratz fashion doll line in 2001.

Larian made headlines last month when he announced a crowd-funding campaign designed to raise $1 billion to make a bid for Toys R Us. That campaign has reaped only $62,000 in donations thus far, but Larian was able to secure other investors and bank financing to come up with an $890 million offer for Toys R Us stores.